Face of the Enemy
by Scott Washburn
Summary: Two young warriors are brought face to face during the Battle of Pandora
1. Chapter 1

Face of the Enemy

By Scott Washburn

Chapter 1

"Hytani! Hytani, come quick!"

Hytani looked up in annoyance as her younger brother, Kikano, dashed up to her, shouting like a fool. "Kikano! You skxawng ! You know better than to shout like that while I'm napping an arrowhead! You nearly made me ruin it!"

The boy didn't seem the least bit remorseful, in fact, he looked incredibly excited. "Forget about your stupid arrowhead! A messenger has arrived! He's speaking of war!"

"War? What are you talking about? If this is some trick of yours…"

"No, no, it's true!" insisted Kikano. "Come on, he's on the main platform waiting for Ula'tey to return! Come on!" He grabbed her hand and yanked her to her feet. Hytani sighed and put down the stone she'd been working on and followed her brother higher into the great tree that the Lutapawni clan called their home. It only took moments for her to realize that surely _something_ was happening. Many other people were heading in the same direction and they all seemed nearly as excited as Kikano. When they emerged on the great platform high above the forest floor, there was already a large crowd, all talking noisily.

"There he is, see him?" said Kikano, pointing at a stranger in the midst of the gathering.

"Where did he come from?" asked Hytani

"I think I heard someone say he's from the Omaticaya clan. They're way off to the south somewhere, aren't they?"

"Yes, two days' hard ride by ikran at least. But war? Who against?"

"I don't know! The messenger is waiting for Ula'tey."

Hytani frowned. This made no sense to her. Clans sometimes did make war on each other. Often it was over some point of offended honor and it was usually resolved quickly with little bloodshed. On very rare occasions it would be more serious and groups of related clans might band together and fight a battle or two. Sometimes people got killed, but it was rare. But the Omaticaya? What possible reason would a messenger have for coming here? The Lutapawni had no ties with the Omaticaya that Hytani knew of and they were so far away how could any issue in their territory involve the Lutapawni? Even so, a part of Hytani was excited at the prospect. She had only finished her training as a hunter a double handful of days earlier. She'd barely gotten the last of the paint from her acceptance ceremony scrubbed off. But her mother was already trying to pair her with one of the men. Mating, babies, she wasn't ready for that yet! She wanted to see some of the world before she settled down. She found herself envying the Omaticaya messenger: so far from his home! Seeing new things! That's what she wanted to do!

A stirring in the crowd caught her attention. Ah, Ula'tey had arrived from wherever he had been. Da'na, his mate and the Tsahik of the clan was close behind him. The crowd moved closer, although they left an open space around Ula'tey and the messenger. This man now came to attention and touched his forehead respectfully and spoke:

"Ula'tey, Olo'eyktan of the Lutapawni, I see you. I am Jalatar. I bring sad and great tidings from the Omatacaya." He spoke loudly so that all could hear. Hytani stood on tip-toe to see over the people in front of her. Poor Kikano couldn't see at all and backed away to climb partway up one of the trunks of the tree.

Ula'tey returned the gesture. "Welcome, Jalatar. I see you. What news do you bring so urgently?"

"New of the direst kind: the Sky People have brought war upon us!" A gasp ran through the crowd and Hytani's own throat added to it. The Sky People! All had heard the tale of the aliens from another world, but few had ever seen them. Many thought the stories mere fables. "Four days ago the Sky People attacked the Omaticaya without warning and for no reason. They used weapons that struck like thunderbolts and burned like fire. Our Hometree was destroyed! Reduced to a pile of ashes! Over forty of my people are now dead and many more hurt!"

Now the gasps turned to cries of alarm and outrage. _Forty!_ Forty people killed? And a hometree _destroyed_? Who had ever heard of such a thing? Hytani looked around at her own home. Her people had lived here for years beyond count. The thought of it being destroyed, burned to the ground was… incomprehensible.

"Dire news indeed," said Ula'tey, who looked as stunned as Hytani felt. "Our hearts go out to the Omaticaya. Is there any aid we can send?"

Jalatar drew himself up and the look that came to his face was not one of sadness or even anger. It was of pride. "Aid is what I am here to ask for. But Ula'tey, there is more, much more! The other news I bring is good beyond hope: Toruk Macto has returned!"

No gasps, no cries this time, just a stunned silence.

"What madness is this?" said Ula'tey at last.

"I understand your doubts," said Jalatar. "Were I in you place I would doubt as well. But I swear to you that it is true! I have seen him and the great Last Shadow with my own eyes, heard his words with my own ears. It is true!"

Hytani and all around her seemed rooted in place. _Toruk Macto!_ The legendary champion of Eywa herself! The songs said that he (or once she) appeared only during times of great danger to the Na'vi. He would bring the clans together to meet the danger. But the last time this had happened was five generations earlier and before that, no one could count the years. Every Na'vi child was taught the stories, and every young hunter dreamed dreams of riding the great Toruk, mightiest of all the world's predators. But to actually have it happen during the waking day! To live in those times! A thrill of excitement passed through her unlike anything she had ever felt.

"After our home was destroyed," continued Jalatar, "we fled to the Tree of Souls. It was the only refuge we could think of. As evening was coming on, we sang to Eywa, begging for her aid. And She heard us! Answered us! In the midst of our song a shadow blotted out the sun. It was Toruk! Red as blood! A rider was on his back! They landed in our midst and Toruk's scream shook the ground! We were all frightened, but Toruk Macto told us to have no fear. He told us that the Sky People were warring not just against the Omaticaya, but against all the Na'vi. Against Eywa herself! He commanded us to fly out to every clan and give this message: Come! All of you!" Jaltar turned and swept his hand toward all the people. "Every person who can shoot a bow or wield a knife, come! Come to the Tree of Souls as quickly as you can for war is upon us!"

The crowd was growing excited. Some were beginning to cheer and hold their fists overhead, for the man's words stirred their hearts. But Ula'tey held up his hand and they fell silent. "Great tidings, indeed," he said and Hytani could see the troubled expression on his face. "We need to ponder this and…"

"No, we do not!"

Everyone twitched in surprise when Da'na, the tsahik, interrupted her mate. He turned to face her, but she held up her hand. Then she looked to the messenger. "Four days? You say this happened four days ago?" The man nodded. "For three nights my dreams have been troubled," said Da'na. "Dreams of fire and death. But last night I dreamed of a great flying beast ridden by a stranger. I did not know what this meant until now. Clearly this is a sign from Eywa! A summons! A summons which we cannot ignore!" She looked to her mate and they stared at each other until Ula'tey nodded.

"So be it!"he said loudly. He held up his great bow. "Let all make ready! Gather your weapons! Gather all that you need for a long journey! The Lutapawni will answer the summons! We fly at dawn!"

The people cheered and Hytani cheered along with them.

Preparations began at once. People were scurrying everywhere to get what was needed and Hytani went with them. Later that evening, her mother approached her.

"Hytani, you're not really going to go are you?"

"Mother, how can I possibly stay behind?" She was bundling up a thick package of dried meat for the journey and she didn't want to restart this discussion again! Her mother had been trying to talk her out of going almost from the moment Ula'tey had made the announcement that the clan was going to war.

"Your father is already going. One from our family is enough. I need you here. Kikano needs you."

"Mother, if it wasn't for your arm, you'd be going yourself! You'd be insisting that _I_ stay here with Kikano. He's old enough to help you now with nearly everything I do. Besides, we'll be back soon enough." She was sorry she had to mention her mother's arm, it had been severely broken in a fall when Hytani was just a child and it had never healed properly. Her mother wasn't a cripple, but riding an ikran was now very difficult for her and shooting a bow impossible. The look on her face told her she didn't want to be reminded of that. "I'm sorry," whispered Hytani.

"But you only finished your own training days ago! You've only had your own ikran a bit longer! You're not ready to ride into a battle!"

"Mother, _Toruk Macto_ has summoned us! Eywa, Herself, calls for our aid! All the Na'vi are going to war! How can I stay behind? I would be shamed for the rest of my life! I am a full member of the clan now and the decision is mine alone. I am sorry, but I leave with the others in the morning." She softened her expression. "And someone needs to look after Father." Her mother turned away without another word. Hytani sighed and returned to her packing. Even her mother's disapproval could not dampen the excitement she felt. War! And to even get to the war would take her to places she had never dreamed of.

She'd never made a journey like this one before, in fact few, if any, of the Lutapawni ever had. To make such a long trip quickly was going to require bringing a lot of food for the ikrans. There would be no time to stop and hunt and a full day of flying would leave their mounts ravenous. And, of course, the more they had to carry, the hungrier they would be. To carry enough to get them to the Tree of Souls would mean carrying very little else besides their weapons. The ikrans wouldn't go hungry, but their riders might. No matter! She was ready to face any hardship.

While she was finishing up, her father came by and looked over her preparations. "Well done," he said. "You should sleep now, we have a hard couple of days coming up."

"Thank you, Father." She looked into his eyes and then took his hand. "Thank you for not opposing my coming. Mother is not happy."

"I know. But she is proud of you—just as I am."

A thrill passed through her. "I will not let you down. But Father, what will this war be like?"

He smiled at her. "You ask me? I have never warred against anyone, let alone these Sky People. But hunting a man can be little different than hunting a dangerous animal. The tales I hear of the Sky People say that they are like us in shape: smaller, uglier, but two arms, two legs, a head. No tail, though. Weak, but with powerful weapons and great metal… _machines_ that can do amazing things. But arrows will kill these Sky People just as any other. Bring as many arrows as you can carry."

"I will."

"Good. Now go to sleep! And don't worry."

[Scene Break]

"Hey, Carol! You're not leaving already are you? You promised me a dance!" Flight Officer Carol Totah looked over her shoulder and saw Sergeant Weiss smiling at her. The bar was crowded and the music loud and she was getting a headache. She just waved at him and made her way out into the corridor, eluding several sets of hands that were attempting to cop a feel as she passed. She let out a sigh after making her escape. The five-to-one male-female ratio among the security forces in Hell's Gate could definitely be a pain at times. They had warned her about it before she left Earth, but the money they were offering was so good, she scarcely gave it a thought at the time. Still, she'd seen worse places. There were rumors that there was something put into the food here that lowered the sex drive and she tended to believe it. Of course, the fact that the Colonel actually had the authority to _execute_ someone for a crime like rape may have had more to do with the good behavior of the men than any drug.

She made her way through the labyrinthine base to her quarters. As a woman and as a flight officer she only had to share her space with one other woman and since that woman was currently AWOL, it meant that she didn't have to share it with anyone just at the moment.

"Damn it, Trudy, what the hell were you thinking?" she muttered to herself as she locked the door behind her. Trudy Chacon had been her roommate for over four years. She liked the woman a lot and now she was gone, deserted, gone over to the enemy. Part of Carol was hurt and the other part wasn't surprised at all. Trudy had been working with the science geeks for a long time and apparently their concern for the natives had rubbed off on her. And, if she had read Trudy's messages correctly, she was also sleeping with one of them. Whatever the case, when Quaritch had attacked the big tree Trudy had refused to fire (what the hell had _he_ been thinking including her in the attack force?) and the Colonel had grounded her for it 'pending further investigation'. So Trudy had led a jailbreak of three of the detained scientists and flown off into the wilderness. God only knew where she was now.

Carol sighed and automatically started tidying up the room. She snorted when she found Trudy's computer pad. It was still running the Na'vi language training program that she was always using. Trudy had been determined to learn the language, but she had been hopelessly inept at it—she was a pilot not a linguist. She had even talked Carol into helping her with some drills and ironically Carol was far better at it than Trudy had been. She'd always had a natural knack for languages. So now she spoke passable pidgin-Na'vi—for all the good it would ever do her. The local Na'vi had been driven away and if they had any sense, wouldn't be back.

She flopped down on her bunk and stared at the ceiling. _Damn! _She felt a sense of betrayal. Not so much because Trudy had sided with the natives, but because she hadn't told her what she was going to do! There was a sort of sisterhood of women helicopter pilots and the rule was that you always looked out for your pal. Hadn't Trudy trusted her enough to confide? What the hell would she have done if Trudy _had_ told her her plans? Told her she was crazy? Tried to stop her? Helped her? She certainly wouldn't have turned her in! Maybe Trudy had just been looking out for _her_ and didn't want to get her involved. That would be like her. She felt a little better thinking about it that way.

But Trudy _was_ crazy. No doubt about it. Carol did have sympathy for the Na'vi, but it was tempered with realism. Two hundred years earlier Carol's own ancestors had had their land stolen and been driven into exile. Generations of them had thought of nothing but taking it back. Carol's own grandparents harped about the injustice of it endlessly even though neither of them, nor their own parents, had ever set foot on the land. Carol thought that their anger and obsession was a colossal waste of time, although she never dared tell them that. But the hard fact was that no one, anywhere had a 'right' to their land. The land belonged to whoever had the strength to hold it. Period. If the Na'vi couldn't hold on to their world they were going to lose it to these smarter, tougher aliens who were moving in. Tragic, but tough shit. Carol had no clue what Trudy was hoping to accomplish by this stunt of hers. She was in a load of trouble and Carol just hoped she could get out of it alive. _'Cause your life's all you've got left at this point, girl!_ Once they caught her she'd be shipped home on the next ISV and probably forfeit every dime of her pay, even if she managed to stay out of jail. And that was assuming the Colonel didn't just shoot her. The regs didn't allow that for the offenses Trudy had racked up, but Quaritch could get awfully pissed over certain things. A chill went through her at the thought of Quaritch trying to execute Trudy. _That_ would be something she couldn't ignore. Hell, she might be leading her own jailbreak if that happened!

She turned out the light and tried to sleep.

[Scene Break]

Hytani shifted on Fala's back and tried to find a more comfortable position. Unfortunately, after nearly a full day aloft, there just weren't any comfortable positions left. This was the second day of the great journey and nearly every part of her ached. The fact that she could feel Fala's fatigue through their bond didn't help. Her ikran was almost as exhausted as she was. _Can Fala feel my pain, too?_ She'd never thought of that aspect of things before. That was hardly fair! Each doubling their pain!

They had left in the early dawn of the previous day among great fanfare and emotional farewells. Mother had not wanted to let either of them go and Kikano was alternately pouting about not being able to go, too, and on the verge of tears at the thought that his father and sister might never return. Similar scenes were taking place with scores of other families. But there was little time for good-byes. As soon as everyone was ready the signal was given and the war host of the Lutapawni had taken flight. It had been a thrilling sight: over a hundred warriors upon their ikrans rising up over their Hometree, circling and then heading south. At first, everyone was shouting and eager, but as the day wore on, the excitement waned and the fatigue grew. They had stopped for the night in a large clearing and few had the energy to do anything but tend their ikran and then sleep. This second day had been even worse…

A piercing call demanded her attention. She looked and saw Ula'tey waving his arm. She looked around and saw that the formation had become badly strung out again. Hytani had managed to stay near the front but the tail of the warband was nearly out of sight behind them. Ula'tey made a circular motion with his arm and Hytani sighed. The leaders would have to circle until the lagging riders caught up. More time in the air! But she dutifully banked Fala with the others and waited. Her father gave her a smile as she came abreast of him during one circle. Eventually, the others caught up and Ula'tey shouted out: "Not much farther now! We will reach our goal before dark! Look!" He pointed ahead and Hytani gasped.

Just barely visible through the mist, far ahead, was a gray shape. At first glance it just appeared to be a cloud, but it was not shaped like any normal cloud. And it didn't move like any normal cloud… The Thundering Rocks! The Floating Mountains! Her fatigue forgotten, Hytani watched eagerly as the shape solidified and could definitely be seen for what it was: a huge block of stone floating in the air! More shapes were coming into view beyond the first. She'd heard of The Thundering Rocks her whole life—who hadn't?—but her first view of them was still amazing. It was like something out of legend. _But I'm in a legend now, aren't I? _ The thought came to her out of nowhere, but she realized that it was true. Toruk Macto, the Na'vi gathering to do battle with alien invaders, this was indeed the stuff of legends! And she was a part of it! Someday even her name might be remembered in song!

Another shout jerked her out of her daydreams. One of the riders was pointing and Hytani caught her breath when she saw another band of ikrans in the distance off to the right. There were at least two hundred of them and they were on a converging path. By the time the two groups drew abreast of each other, they were coming up on the first of the huge floating rocks. Hytani didn't know where to look. Her eyes couldn't take it all in at once! Mountains drifting on the winds! More ikrans than she'd ever seen before! Her pain and fatigue were utterly forgotten. Even the ikrans seemed excited, they were screeching and jinking about and the formation was coming apart. She patted Fala's neck absently, more to calm herself than him. _Worth the trip, worth the pain, oh yes! Oh yes!_

They were fully into the mountains now and her wonder only grew. Big mountains, small mountains, chains of rocks held together by great vines. Mountains tethered to other mountains, mountains nearly touching the ground and others so high they could barely be seen, waterfalls cascading down from above, glistening in the afternoon sun, it was almost unbelievable. Supposedly the mountains would crash together at times thus giving them their name, but they were quiet today.

And just when she thought it couldn't get any more amazing, it did. Up ahead a series of bizarre stone arches were rearing up from the ground. Some of them towered up nearly as tall as the base of some of the mountains. Others were smaller and nested inside each other around a central core. Something white gleamed inside…

"There it is!" cried someone. _The Tree of Souls!_ The Heart of Eywa! As they got closer she could see the beautiful white tree clearly. It seemed to glow in the gathering dusk. But there was no time to admire it. Despite the excitement, their ikrans were nearing the limits of their endurance. They needed to land and rest them—and soon.

But where? She now saw that they weren't the first party to arrive. Hundreds and hundreds of Na'vi, horses, and ikrans were already gathered in the area surrounding the tree. Dozens of campfires burned brightly. But then she spotted a few people off to one side. They were waving and shouting and Hytani banked Fala in their direction. All her comrades did as well and soon they were on the ground, stiffly dismounting from their ikrans. "Well done, Fala! Well done!" she said putting her arms around his neck. He gave a weary screech and bumped his head against her side.

One of the Na'vi they had seen earlier directing them where to land came running up. "Welcome! Welcome!" he cried. "May the All Mother bless you for coming! We have food for you and for your mounts. You must all be very tired!" Other people were coming up now carrying large slabs of fresh meat. Fala growled eagerly at the sight and smell. "We have been hunting almost without a stop," said the man. "From the moment Toruk Macto sent out the messengers. We hoped—we prayed—that many, many would be coming and we had to be ready!"

Hytani thanked him and then helped get the meat distributed and then asked the man: "Toruk Macto, is… is he here?"

He smiled and pointed. "Yes, he returned not long ago with a large group from near the sea. He and the Toruk are over that way." She got the impression that he was asked that question a lot. As soon as she had Fala settled she found her father and 'suggested' they go see Toruk Macto. He wearily agreed.

"Ula'tey has already gone to meet with him," he said. "I think he's over there. At least that seems to be where the biggest crowd is gathered." They made their way through the camps that had sprung up around the dell where the Tree of Souls grew. Part of Hytani wanted to go see the tree close up, but she told herself that while the tree wasn't going to go anywhere, Toruk Macto might not stay put. Best to take their chance to see him now. "This is like a big gathering of clans," said her father. "You've never been to one of those."

From time to time nearby clans would meet for a festival. It was a time for making and renewing friendships, trading goods and an opportunity for young people to find mates outside their own clan and bring in new blood. Hytani had been too young to go to the last one, but this more than made up for it! There were more people around her than she'd ever seen at one time. Many looked just like ordinary people, but some wore clothing or decorations or body paint unlike anything she'd seen before. Some spoke with strange accents to their voices. The world was a bigger place than she'd realized.

Eventually they reached the edge of the crowd. Hytani craned her neck to try and see, but if Toruk Macto was there, she couldn't pick him out. But wait… was that…? A large red shape sat to one side. There were no people close to it. As she watched, an enormous head raised up on a long neck. _Toruk! Look at the size of it!_ It was easily twice the size of the biggest ikran she had ever seen. It yawned lazily revealing rows of teeth and then put its head back down. She gasped in awe.

"Pretty impressive, huh?" said a voice from beside her. She looked and saw a young Na'vi standing next to her. He was smiling at her. "I think we can get a better look from over there." He pointed to a small hillock that wasn't too crowded.

Hytani glanced at her father but he just smiled and said: "Go ahead."

"I'm Pallar," said her new companion as he led the way through the crowd. "Of the Aleomacar."

"Hytani, of the Lutapawni," she replied. "When did you get here?"

"This morning. Our hometree is over a day west of here."

"We only arrived a short while ago. We are two hard days north."

"Ah, I saw you arrive. A big warband! The Lutapawni must be a large clan."

"Oh, that was more than one clan. We had about a hundred, but a much larger group joined us just before we got here. I'm not sure who they are."

"Still, a hundred is a lot. My clan could only send about sixty. But, it was all we had to send," said Pallar.

"I think everyone is sending all they can. Who could bear to stay behind when Toruk Macto calls?"

"Yes! Not something that happens every day! Ah, I think that must be him!" They had reached the slightly higher ground and Pallar pointed at a figure standing not too far from Toruk. "The one with the yellow feathers in his queue." Hytani saw that Ula'tey was presenting himself to the man, so Pallar must be correct. She watched as they exchanged formal greetings. Toruk Macto was actually a bit short, although very broad-chested, with powerful arms and shoulders. His eyes were kind of odd, too, although Hytani could not describe exactly what was odd about them. _Well, a legend should look different, shouldn't he?_ She looked closer…

"Does… does Toruk Macto have… too many fingers?" she asked awkwardly.

"Yes, I was talking with some of the Omaticaya earlier," replied Pallar. "Four fingers on each hand and an extra toe on each foot."

"Is it… is it some sort of mark from Eywa?"

"I don't know. The Omaticaya told me some things that… are pretty strange about him."

"Like what?"

"They said… they said that Toruk Macto has two bodies. The one body you see here and then another body that is hidden away somewhere. While one body sleeps the other is awake. Dreamwalkers they called them." Hytani fixed her eyes on Pallar and scowled. He flinched back. "It's what they said! I'm just telling you what they told me. I'm not making it up!"

"Perhaps they were playing a joke on you. I find such a tale hard to believe."

"Well, yeah. It is."

"Who is the woman next to him?" asked Hytani, trying to change the subject.

"I think that's his mate, a woman named Neytiri." For some reason Hytani was disappointed to learn that Toruk Macto already had a mate.

"He speaks to her a lot."

"I think she is translating for him," said Pallar. "The Omaticaya said that he doesn't speak Na'vi very well."

"What language does he speak?" asked Hytani in surprise. Pallar just shrugged. Stranger and stranger! "He must come from very far away!"

"That's what the Omaticaya said," confirmed Pallar.

The welcoming ceremony was over and the crowd began to disperse. Hytani was suddenly very sleepy. It had been a long, long day! She said good-bye to Pallar and went back to find her father and a place to sleep.

[Scene Break]

"… and when we destroy it, we will blast a crater in their racial memory so deep they won't come within a thousand of klicks of this place ever again. And that too, is a fact." Carol Totah found herself cheering along with the rest of the troops at the end of the Colonel's pep talk, but the cheer seemed to ring hollow in her ears. Oh, everyone was fired up, but there was no getting around that this situation was never supposed to have happen in the first place. Less than a week ago the Colonel had held a victory celebration in the wake of the destruction of the Omaticaya's hometree. He'd made some very confident statements about the natives fleeing the area and never bothering anyone again. Well, obviously, they hadn't fled very far and now they were back with a lot of friends and looking very much like they planned to create a bother!

And where was Trudy in all of this? Carol couldn't believe that she wasn't somehow involved. She flees from Hell's Gate with three of the most rabid Na'vi supporters among the scientists and just a few days later this happens. Was Trudy actually siding with the Na'vi against her own kind? What the hell was wrong with that girl?

"Attention!" snapped the Colonel's adjutant. "All platoon sergeants and pilots report to your respective ready rooms for mission briefing. Dismissed!" it took a while to clear the crowded mess hall that was being used as the meeting space. It was the only indoor space on the base big enough for the purpose—unless you wanted to use one of the hangers. As it happened, Carol was heading toward the hangers since that was where her ready room was located. She passed through a series of open airlocks and then out onto the large expanse of the hanger. A dozen of the helicopters were parked there undergoing maintenance. Mechanics were crawling all over them and ordnance trolleys were lined up, loaded with missiles. The clang of tools, the hiss of welders, and the smell of lubricants and scorched metal filled the air. Her own Sampson helicopter was parked outside, so she didn't spare the ones here a second glance. She crossed to the other side and then through another door into the briefing room. A dozen pilots were already there. She found a seat and waited for the rest to arrive.

The helicopters at Hell's Gate were divided into two battalions. The first consisted of all the Scorpion gunships. These were one-man helicopters, very fast and carrying a huge armament. They were useful for scouting and combat, but not much else. The second battalion had the Sampson Utility Helicopters. These were bigger, slower, less heavily armed, but able to carry a dozen passengers or a large amount of cargo. That was what Carol flew. Captain Juan Mitchell, commander of the battalion, walked in and waved everyone back to their seats as they tried to stand up. The last of the pilots trailed in behind him.

"All right everyone, sit down," he said. "We've got a lot to go over and not much time to do it. We're moving out at 0600 tomorrow morning. We are going to hit the hostiles before any more of them can show up. The Colonel is ordering maximum effort on this mission. Every chopper we can put in the air. In addition to the aerial strike on the hostiles' base, we will be landing a ground force to mop up afterwards. Obviously that will be our job. The Dragon and the shuttle will deliver the AMP suits, but most of the foot-sloggers will be our responsibility. The exact LZs haven't been determined yet, but we'll pass that information along as soon as we have it. Naturally, we'll also be responsible for retrieving the ground force once the operation is complete. The Colonel isn't expecting a lot of casualties, but they are bound to be heaviest in the ground forces. Lieutenant Flores, 2 Squadron will be responsible for medevac, understood?"

"Yes, sir." Carol breathed a silent sigh of relief. She hated medevac duty. So, just drop off the troopers and pick them up again. In between that…

"Now," continued Captain Mitchell, "I want to warn you about the special problems we are going to be facing in the Flux Vortex. Some of you have flown up there but most haven't. Let me make this very clear: you will not be able to rely on your instruments! This will be seat-of-you-pants flying! The weather forecast for tomorrow is good so hopefully we won't have to deal with reduced visibility, but conditions can change up there in a matter of minutes. We are going to have about ninety vehicles involved in this mission, flying in a tight formation to protect the shuttle. Our biggest worry is going to be collisions and we cannot, I repeat: cannot, rely on the automatic collision avoidance systems. Keep your eyes peeled! Tell your door gunners to keep _their_ eyes peeled and don't be afraid to warn you about anyone getting too close. Clear?"

Everyone nodded or said _yes_, but then someone asked: "Sir, how's the Flux going to affect our combat capability?"

"Sensor readings are going to be unreliable and long-range missile locks aren't going to work at all. This means that if the enemy does decide to attack, we'll have to let them get pretty close before we can engage. But our missiles and guns will still kill them just fine. Just be damn sure that you have a clear line of fire before you open up! There will be a lot of friendlies in the air and I want no accidents!" Mitchell paused for a moment and the expression on his face darkened. "That brings me to one last item and it's not a pleasant one. As you all know, Flight Officer Chacon deserted a week ago. We don't know her whereabouts and we don't know her intentions. However, the Colonel has issued strict orders that Sampson One-Six is to be destroyed on sight." Carol bowed her head and clenched her fists. _Damn!_ "But be sure of your target!" snapped Mitchell. "IFF is going to be problematic up there! Just because you don't get a proper response don't assume it's Chacon. Visual confirmation before firing on any helicopter, understand?" A very muted, but affirmative, reply came from the pilots.

"As far as our rules of engagement are concerned," continued Mitchell, "they are very simple: if it's blue, kill it. Any and all Na'vi are to be considered hostile and legitimate targets." He paused to let that sink in. "All right, that's all for now. Keep your coms open for any updates. I'm sure all of you will be spending the rest of the day checking out your ships. I'll expect everyone on the flightline at 0400 tomorrow. Dismissed."

As Carol was leaving she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and it was Captain Mitchell. "Sir?"

"Carol, I know you were close to Trudy. This has got to be rough on you and I'm sorry. If… if you want to sit this one out, I can find a replacement for you."

It was tempting, very tempting. But she shook her head. "Thank you, sir, but I'm fine. I'll do my duty, but I don't know if I could…" she trailed off.

"No one's expecting you to," said Mitchell. "Hopefully, Chacon will have the sense to stay away. And even if she doesn't, it's unlikely you'll be the one who'll have to…" Now Mitchell trailed off. Carol saluted him and he returned it. She faced about and headed for her ship.

[Scene Break]

Hytani had planned to sleep late, but shortly after dawn a strange roaring sound woke her up. It woke everyone else up, too and the whole camp was in a commotion. Some people shouted in alarm and grabbed their weapons, but shortly some of the Omaticaya ran up and called for calm. They asked everyone to come with them. Hytani and her father followed the rest. She was pleased when Pallar found her and came along. "What's going on?" she asked, but Pallar only shrugged.

They reached a large clearing and Hytani gasped. A strange dark green shape sat on the ground. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before. The central part of it was shaped like a jinta gourd but there was a long thin part, almost like the tail of an ikran that stuck out the end. On either side were two circular objects sticking out near the top. They were hollow, as if the top of a clay pot had been neatly sliced off. Six thin objects, like the blade of a knife, except much larger, radiated out from the center of the circles. The whole thing was much bigger than a person, nearly as large as the mighty toruk. What was it?

Toruk Macto and his mate were standing next to it and as Hytani stared in astonishment a tiny figure emerged from inside the green shape. "Eywa! Is that one of the… the…?"

"One of the Sky People!" cried Pallar. He was echoed by hundreds of others. Hytani instinctively grasped the hilt of her knife. The enemy! But just then Toruk Macto's mate, Neytiri, sprang on top of the green shape and shouted for calm. Toruk Macto, himself placed his hand on the shoulder of the Sky Person and that seemed to do as much as his mate's shouts to settle the crowd.

"Remain calm!" said Neytiri. "There is no danger now! You have come to fight the Sky People, but you need to know that not every Sky Person is our enemy. Some of them have sided with the Na'vi against their own kind who wish to do us harm. This is Trudychacon and she is our friend!" Slowly the assembled Na'vi quieted down. Hytani looked more closely at the Sky Person. Her father had been right: they were not so terribly different. Still, they were different enough: no taller than a half-grown child, skin a sickly pink-tan color, but most of the skin was covered by bulky garments. If those bumps under the clothing were actually breasts, then this one was female. Her face was covered by a strange shiny bubble of some sort. The face was… odd. Eyes much too small, almost no nose at all, but a normal-looking mouth, seeming out of place with the rest of it. If her expression could be interpreted the same as a Na'vi, then she was worried, frightened, perhaps. But then who in her place wouldn't be? Hundreds of armed Na'vi towered around her and she was all alone. Hytani wondered if she would be so brave if the situation was reversed? But why was this creature helping us against her own kind?

"The thing on which I stand," continued Neytiri, "is called a hel-i-cop-ter. It is a Sky People machine for making war. Trudychacon is the… _pilot_ of this machine. When we fight the Sky People we will encounter many machines such as this one. We want you to see it and hear it and see what it can do so you will be able to better fight them when the time comes. Watch now and don't be afraid!" Neytiri hopped down and the Sky Person re-entered the machine through an opening that had a covering that swung outward and back again by some method Hytani couldn't fathom. More of the same shiny bubble material such as covered the alien's face enclosed some of the machine. It seemed to be solid and hard, but you could see right through it like it wasn't there! Amazing!

The Sky Person was doing something inside the machine, but Hytani could not see what. After a few moments a strange, high-pitched noise came from the machine and the knife-blade things inside the circles began to move. Three moved one way and the other three the opposite direction. In just the span of a few heartbeats, they were spinning so rapidly it was almost impossible to see them. The noise got louder and louder and everyone began to move away. The moving blades were sucking in air from above and blowing it out below so strongly that it was kicking up dust and loose leaves. Then, incredibly, the whole machine began to move. It slowly lifted off the ground! But it had no wings like an ikran, what was holding it up? Pallar cried out, as did many others, although the machine was so noisy it was hard to hear anything else.

She watched as the machine rose higher and higher. It didn't move forward or back, it simply went straight up. Then it pivoted and began to move away. Faster and faster it moved until it was a tiny shape in the distance. But then it turned again and came back toward them, growing larger and larger. It roared by only a few spans above them with a deafening roar. Hytani flinched and many of the Na'vi ducked. She turned and watched the machine receding in the distance. Then it turned and did it again. Not so many ducked this time, but it was still rather frightening.

"It moves so fast!" she exclaimed to her father. "As fast as an ikran in a steep dive and yet this isn't diving! We could never catch one of these in level flight."

"A good lesson to learn," he replied. "If we attack these, we will have to dive on them from above or approach from head-on."

The machine made three more passes and then slowed and came in for a gentle landing where it had been originally. The Sky Person popped out of it and began talking with Toruk Macto and Neytiri, pointing to various parts of the machine. Then Neytiri began to speak again. "The helicopters carry many different weapons—all of them are deadly! Toruk Macto will show you one now." Her mate went to the side of the machine and lifted a strange object in his hands. It was a blocky shape shorter than a bow, but looking much heavier. He stepped around to a cleared space where several large gourds had been placed. He lifted one end of the object up near his head and pointed the other end at the gourds. Suddenly there was a horrible noise and flame spat from the end of the object. The gourds were torn apart as if by an invisible axe!

"Some of the machines have weapons like this that can only fire to the front," continued Neytiri. "It will be best to attack them from above, or from the rear. Others, like this one, will have extra Sky People with weapons that can shoot to the sides, you must be careful how you attack them." The woman continued to point out features of the machine, but then Toruk Macto suddenly stiffened and put his hand to the side of his head. Neytiri fell silent.

"What is happening?" asked Hytani

"The Omaticaya say that Toruk Macto and his friends have ways of talking to each other over long distances," said Pallar. "Perhaps that is what he is doing now."

It appeared that Pallar was correct, because shortly Neytiri announced that the demonstration was over. Toruk Macto and the Sky Person hurried away into the forest. "You should all rest now," said Neytiri.

This seemed like a good idea, although Hytani would have liked to learn more about the Sky People machine. Slowly the crowd dispersed and people made their way back to their campsites. She wasn't displeased when Pallar followed her back to her camp rather than going to his.

"I wonder how many of those machines the Sky People have?" he asked as they walked.

"Yes," agreed Hytani. "If they have as many of them as we have ikrans, then… then…"

"Then it will be a truly terrible battle," finished Pallar. "One worthy of a song, or two, I am thinking." He grinned at her and she found herself smiling back. Pallar was more talkative and… pushier, than she normally cared for in a person, but it was impossible not to like him. But his Hometree was so far away…

They spent the remainder of the morning resting and tending to their mounts and their gear, but in the afternoon the camps were all astir again as messengers brought word that the Sky People would attack the next morning! "All must be ready before the dawn!" they said. But then they went on to say: "So that you might better understand the danger we face from the Sky People, each clan is asked to send four people to come and see the remains of the Omaticaya Hometree!" Hytani immediately volunteered, but she wasn't picked. However, her father was one of the ones selected and he departed on his ikran. The sun was nearing the horizon before he and the other returned.

Hytani went up to him, but all her questions died on her lips when she saw the expression on her father's face. She'd never seen him with such a deep-smoldering anger.

"We must win this fight tomorrow," was all that he would say.

[Scene Break]

Carol Totah took one last look at her ship. Everything seemed to be in order. No streaks of leaking oil on the side panels, no tell-tale puddles of fluids on the concrete. She checked the mountings for two newly installed tri-barrels and they seemed solid. The Sampsons usually just relied on the eight forward-firing missiles for dead-ahead targets, but for this mission Carol was glad of the extra firepower. Satisfied, she trotted over to where Bertie Halloran was inspecting his own ship.

"So how'dya want to work this, Bertie?" she asked. "We're supposed to watch each others' sixes when it hits the fan up there. You ever practice anything like that?"

"Ne'er in me life, lassie," said Bertie, his Scottish burr almost too thick to understand. "Anywhere I flew th' danger was from th' ground, nae the air. Tis is all new t'me."

"Yeah, me, too," said Carol. Nearly all the helicopter pilots at Hell's Gate had backgrounds in the American or European or Russian militaries where air superiority was taken for granted. The danger was from SAMs and other ground fire, not enemy aircraft. The Sampsons and even the agile Scorpions were ground-attack vehicles and not designed for air-to-air combat. "Well, I guess all we can do is keep an eye out for each other and help each other out."

"Sounds good t'me, lassie." She thumped fists with Bertie and headed back to her ship. Her two door gunners, Danny Schmidt and Vince Domanico, were inspecting their weapons and placing spare ammo where they could reach it quickly. "About ready, guys?" she asked. "We start loading the foot-sloggers in ten minutes." She motioned to where the infantry was lined up and being inspected by their officers and NCOs.

"Almost ready to go, Skipper," replied Vince. "Say, look what I made." He gestured to a sheet of plasticized paper stuck to the inside of the helicopter next to the door. It was covered with a few dozen oddly-shaped blotches. A marker pencil on a string dangled next to it.

"What's that?" asked Carol.

"It's for keeping score! Those are banshees, Skipper! When I get one, I mark one off. Danny's got one, too. We're gonna see who gets the most. I'd have made one for you, too, but I figured you might be too busy flying this crate."

"That's for sure." Carol leaned closer and could see how someone might barely recognize the blotches on the sheet as being banshees. "I hope you're a better shot than you are an artist, Vince."

"Hey, I traced that from the survival guide!" said the scandalized gunner. Carol chuckled and climbed into the cockpit. The eastern sky was a bright pink, not much longer now. She couldn't think of anything that remained to be done so she called up the flight plan on her display and reviewed it for the twentieth time. If she didn't keep herself occupied the nervousness in her stomach would get worse. Combat! Her combat experience was extremely limited. _Almost non-existent, really… _She'd been in a couple of war zones, even flown into a couple of hot LZs, but no one had ever actually shot at _her_. Nor had she ever shot at anyone else. Everyone was joking that today's operation would be a walk-over. She hoped they were right.

She looked up as the squad of infantry she was to transport marched over and began boarding. They were in high spirits, noisy and cocky. She exchanged a few words with the sergeant in charge of them, but there really wasn't much to say. They knew the drill and the safety regs: Just don't fall out, we'll drop you off and pick you up when it's over. Only a few minutes later Captain Mitchell was on the com requesting the status of his squadrons. Carol reported Sampson Two-Four ready and all the other pilots did likewise. No screw-up today and that was a good sign.

The command came for engine start and Carol hit the proper switches and pushed the throttles forward. Her ship came to life and sat shuddering on the runway. The roar of the massed engines reached her ears even through the canopy. Virtually every helicopter on the base was on the flight line. She didn't think that had ever happened before during her time on Pandora—maybe ever. The massed power sent a thrill through her. The Na'vi damn well better stay out of the way today!

"Papa Dragon to all squadrons," came the Colonel's voice over her headset. "Lift off in squadron order according to Plan Alpha on my mark. Execute!"

[Scene Break]

Hytani clung to her ikran which was clinging to the side of one of the Thundering Rocks. Hundreds of other ikrans and Na'vi were all around her, including on the side of another rock floating only a few dozen spans away. Nearly all the people were decorated with war paint and had feathers in their queues. She had been both embarrassed and pleased when Pallar had appeared and offered to help apply her paint. With a great deal of laughter and giggling they had decorated each other. She could still remember the touch of his hands on her… She now had a mass of bright red feathers in her queue that looked very grown-up and warlike. She wished Pallar was with her, but naturally he was with his own clan and they had been placed some distance away on one of the other rocks.

They had taken to the air just before dawn and spent a long while slowly climbing this high. They could have gone faster, but they wanted to save the strength of the ikrans for later. The sun was well above the horizon now and if the scouts were right, the enemy was fast approaching. She nervously checked her bow and her arrows for the sixteenth time. She was frightened, probably more frightened than she'd ever been. Not even the day she met and tamed Fala had made her insides feel like they did right now! What would the battle be like? Would she be killed? Perhaps maimed like her mother? Neither prospect appealed to her, but she was most frightened by the possibility that she would somehow shame herself, her family and her clan. This was the most important thing she'd ever done. Quite possibly it would be the most important thing she would ever do even if she lived to a ripe old age. What if she…?

She wrenched her eyes away from her weapon and her mind away from her fears and looked at all the other people and ikrans nearby. They were probably all frightened, too. But they were here nonetheless, ready to do their duty. The memory of the vast host taking flight in the growing dawn sent a shiver through her. Glorious! Ewya was with them! They would not fail! _She_ would not fail!

But she just wished that they could get on with it. This waiting was…

"What's that?" said someone. "Listen!"

Everyone, even the ikrans, hushed. At first all Hyytani could hear was the wind, but then there was something else. A faint thrumming came to her ears. It was like a mix of drums and distant thunder. It echoed off the rocks and it was impossible to tell what direction it was coming from. But it was getting louder.

"Not much longer now," said her father. His ikran was next to hers, only a span away. "Remember what you've been taught and you will do fine, daughter." She nodded and hoped that he was right. "Stay close to me if you can, but if we get separated, I'll meet you back at our camp."

"Yes, Father." She looked at him and suddenly there were a dozen things she wanted to say to him. But there was no time. How had she let the time slip away? "Father? I… I love you, Father."

He smiled at her and nodded. "May Eywa watch over you today."

Before she could say anything else the noise suddenly got much louder and everyone was growing excited. "There! Look there!" shouted someone. Hytani twisted her head this way and that before finally spotting the enemy. Far, far below them a swarm of the Sky People machines was emerging from under one of the floating mountains. There didn't seem to be all that many of them, far fewer than she'd feared, but wait… what were those…?

Two huge shapes appeared, one the same green color as the smaller machines, but much larger, with four of the big whirling blade-things. The other was a brilliant white and it was larger yet, nearly as large as some of the Thundering Rocks! They had been warned that there would be two larger machines among the enemy but she hadn't imagined that they would be this big! How could they fight things like that?

"People of the Lutapawni, stand ready!" cried Ula'tey, suddenly. More shouts erupted from the waiting host. Hytani looked up and a flash of red caught her eye. _Toruk!_ The great beast swept down between the two rocks where the people and ikrans were perched. Toruk Macto was on its back and he pumped his weapon and shouted. He was followed by his mate and the clan leader of the Omaticaya who cried out: "Attack! Attack! Attack!"

Immediately, ikrans began to fall away from the rocks and follow Toruk Macto. Hytani hesitated for a moment; the air was so full of ikrans she was afraid of a collision, but when her father launched his mount into the air, she was only a heartbeat behind. Many of the warriors were shouting but her throat was so tight, she couldn't make a sound.

Down, down they dived. The wind whistled past her as Fala folded back his wings. The enemy seemed unaware of them and flew onward. Were they so arrogant that they didn't think the People would fight? They would soon learn different!

Hytani found her voice and she screamed a battle cry as the Na'vi dropped from the sky onto the enemy.

End of Chapter 1

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

Face of the Enemy

By Scott Washburn

Chapter 2

Flight Officer Carol Totah's mouth kept dropping open. Her first views of the Halleluiah Mountains left her stunned. Of course she'd seen vids and heard Trudy's endless descriptions of them, but none of that could begin to prepare a person for the reality of it. 'Mind-blowing' didn't even come close. She wasn't a religious person, but she found herself in awe of the infinite wonder and glory of creation.

"Gettin' a little close on the left, Skipper," came Vince Domanico's voice over her com. She adjusted her course slightly and mentally slapped herself for letting the scenery distract her from her piloting. That's how you got killed!

The rocks were getting a lot more closely spaced as they neared the target. They'd been pretty far apart when they dropped off the ground troopers, but they were drawing in now and the tight formation around the lumbering shuttle was getting squeezed. Bertie Halloran had been flying on her right, but now he slipped ahead of her to avoid a vine-covered boulder the size of a football stadium.

Up ahead there was an enormous rock and apparently the whole formation was going to pass right under it. She sure hoped there weren't any Na'vi on it getting ready to throw stuff down on them!

Where the hell _were_ the Na'vi? She'd been expecting them to attack before this. They were only a few klicks from the target and they'd been told to expect the hostiles to defend that fiercely. Not that she was complaining, maybe they'd have the sense to stay away and there'd be no fight. She hoped so, for Trudy's sake if no other reason. She checked her sensors, but as she'd been warned they showed nothing but a screen full of multi-colored confetti. Useless.

They emerged from under the rock and she breathed a sigh of relief. The last few klicks in to the target seemed relatively clear. Maybe they could…

"Heads up!" screamed someone over the general circuit.

"Bandits! Bandits, coming in from above!"

"Tally ho!" cried Bertie.

Carol looked up and her blood froze. Dozens, hundreds of dark shapes were diving on them! Where the hell had they come from? One of them was diving right on…

"Bertie! Look out!" A banshee flashed between her and Halloran's 'copter and suddenly it was spinning wildly out of control toward the forest below.

"Bertie! Bertie!"

[Scene Break]

Hytani drew back her bow and tried to pick a target. They were closing on the enemy with terrifying swiftness but the air was so full of banshees, weaving and swerving, that she couldn't find a clear shot. There! She decided on a machine to attack and banked Fala toward it. But before she could fire, another warrior cut in front of her and let loose. She could see his arrow smash right through the clear bubble-stuff on the machine and an instant later it tumbled away. Blast! Only a moment remained to pick another target before it was too late. There was another machine, just off to the side. It was at a poor angle to try and hit the pilot, but there was a Sky Person standing in an opening on the side…

He saw her just as she saw him and for a moment their eyes locked. He was swinging his weapon in her direction just as she loosed. Her arrow took him full in the chest and then he was gone, left behind as Fala dove past the machine.

[Scene Break]

Carol was still trying to come to grips with the fact that her wingman was gone when a cry from Vince made her jerk her head around. Another Na'vi on a banshee was swooping toward them. It was close enough for her to see the bright red feathers in its ponytail. She instinctively pushed the stick to the left and the ship began to bank but the enemy flashed past and was gone in an eyeblink.

"Skipper!" cried Danny Schmidt.

"What?"

"Vince is… Vince is gone."

"Dead?"

"Oh yeah. Arrow clean through him."

_Damn! _With a snarl shebrought the Sampson around and then angled down to follow the bastard who'd just killed one of her crew!

[Scene Break]

Hytani was both horrified and elated that she'd just killed someone. An alien, an enemy, but still a person. But there was no time to think about that! Her dive had taken her below the enemy. She needed to climb back up if she were to attack them again. All around her were other ikrans and a heartening number of crashed or crashing war machines. She looked around for her father but did not see him. She hoped he was all right. At her command Fala spread his wings and pulled out of the dive. Now, how best to get into position to attack again? She looked to the right and to the left. She twisted around to look behind her…

An enemy war machine was diving on her, spitting fire!

[Scene Break]

Carol pressed the trigger and the twin tri-barrels roared to life, spraying tracers at the banshee in front of her. But her fire went high and instantly her target twisted to the right and away. They swept past each other so close that Carol could clearly see the banshee's rider. She was a bit shocked to see that it was a female, but the red feathers in her hair indentified her as Vince's killer. Carol slammed the stick over and worked the pedals to follow.

She tried to line up a shot again, but the banshee was incredibly agile. It swerved this way and that and burst after burst hit nothing. She lost sight briefly as her quarry flew behind one of the floating rocks, but she picked her up again on the other side. More shots, more misses!

Carol was getting frustrated and the next time she thought she had the target in her sights she pressed the trigger and held it down. Tracers reached out but missed again. She moved the stick to follow and continued firing, but then cursed when the port tri-barrel overheated and jammed. "Damn!"

She switched to missiles to let the remaining gun cool, but had no better luck with them. Shot after shot went wide or high or hit intervening rocks and vines. She only carried eight of them and they were soon expended. This damned blueskin had a charmed life!

[Scene Break]

More of the enemy firebolts flashed past Hytani and she desperately banked Fala to the left. He squawked as one of them punched a small hole through his wing. It was a minor wound but unless she could somehow evade her pursuer it might soon be something far more serious. She risked a glance behind her, but the Sky People machine was still on her tail. What could she do? She was nearing the edge of the Thundering Rocks, only a few more floated ahead of her. Once she lost their cover she would be terribly exposed. She seemed to be alone, her flight had taken her far from the battle area. Try and turn back? Dive into the forest below? She felt confident that she could escape into the trees, but that would take her effectively out of the fight. Fala was tired and it would take him far, far too long to climb back up to altitude. She'd already struck a blow, killed one of the Skypeople… maybe it was time to get away…

"_Hytaniiiii!"_

The cry was piercing and she whipped her head around to find its source. An ikran was dropping out of the sky almost directly over her. It looked like…

_Pallar!_ It was her new friend! How had he found her? What was he…? She saw him rear back with his bow drawn to its limit.

Unfortunately, the enemy saw him, too. The machine slowed its pursuit and tilted up its nose… Pallar fired, the enemy fired… His arrow came streaking down and smashed right through the clear bubble on the front of the machine. But his aim was off and it missed the Sky Person flying it.

The Sky Person's return fire didn't miss.

"Pallar!"

His ikran seemed to run into some invisible barrier. It staggered , screamed and then tumbled away. Pallar spun off in another direction, his limbs limp, making no attempt to break his fall…

"Pallar…" she hissed. Her fist tightened and a red rage seemed to cloud her vision.

The enemy had fallen behind now. One last big rock was just ahead. If she dove under it, she could pick up enough speed to climb up and around the other side, reverse her course and come back. Back to avenge her fallen friend.

"Come on, Fala!"

[Scene Break]

"Skipper, we're getting awfully far away from everyone else." Schmidt's voice crackled over Carol's headphones but she scarcely heard him, her attention was riveted on the enormous arrow imbedded in the seat next to her. Just a few centimeters closer and… She fitted the mask of her exo-pack into place before the Pandoran atmosphere leaking in could choke her.

"Skipper…?"

"Wh

at?"

"We need to get back to the others. We're all alone out here."

She looked around and saw that he was right. There were no other gunships nearby. The Na'vi they had been pursuing had disappeared and the sky was clear. One of the big floating rocks was looming just ahead and she pulled back on the stick to climb over it. Once they were past that they could gain some altitude and head back toward the primary target. The others were sure to be there. It angered her to let the one who'd killed Vince get away, but she had gotten that other one. It would have to do.

The gray rock-face of the mountain, draped with vines, swept past as she angled up. She could have just killed her forward motion and spun around, but she's already seen the danger in losing your forward momentum. A stationary target was just too damn vulnerable. The cliff dropped away and she skimmed just a few meters above the forest that grew on top of the mountain. Okay, now a bank to the left and…

"Skipper! Look out!"

She looked around wildly to locate the cause of Schmidt's shout. A banshee was coming right toward them, only a few dozen meters away! It was the one she'd been chasing and the rider was so close she could see the expression of shock on her face. Carol pulled on the stick as hard as she could, but she knew it was too late.

[Scene Break]

Hytani gasped as the enemy war machine appeared right in front of her. Somehow the treetops had masked the noise it made and there was no warning at all. It was just _there_. She desperately ordered Fala to bank right, but the ikran had already decided to go left. As a result, they didn't turn in either direction and continued directly ahead. The machine started to turn, but it was just too close. A rush of air slammed into her as the spinning blades loomed like the jaws of death only a span away.

A paralyzing blast of agony shot through the tsahaylu into Hytani as Fala collided with the spinning blades. The ikran's death-shock was worse than the physical blow that hurled her aside. She tumbled away helplessly, a ghastly sound ringing in her ears. The trees were rushing up at her but she couldn't seem to react. She slammed into a thick branch and everything went black.

[Scene Break]

Carol felt the collision. Her ship lurched and for one instant she thought that perhaps they might make it through. But then the machine began to shudder violently and her control panel blazed with red lights as the starboard engine tore itself apart. She instinctively threw the control stick all the way to the left, but she knew it was hopeless. A Sampson could _not_ fly with only one rotor assembly. There was just no way to balance the thrust. "Hang on!" she screamed to Schmidt.

The helicopter rolled over and spiraled toward the treetops of the floating mountain only a few dozen meters below. "May-Day! May-Day! This Sampson Two-four…" Impact. Carol was hurled against the seat restraints as her ship smashed through the foliage. The already-punctured canopy shattered and she was clawed by branches and shards of plastic. She felt and heard the other rotor disintegrate and then the ground was rushing up to smack her.

She blacked out momentarily—she thought it was only momentarily—and then she was hanging upside down in her seat staring out into green forest. Or at least there was green forest to her left. On the right there was… nothing.

"Holy crap," she gasped. The remains of her ship was perched on the edge of the floating rock, teetering over a long, long drop. She touched her mike. "Schmidt! Danny, are you still with me?"

No answer.

"Danny! Answer me!" Still nothing. She twisted around—still upside down—to try and look into the rear compartment, but all she could see through the small windows was a mass of leaves, vines and broken branches. She had to get loose and get back there. Moving carefully she grabbed hold of her seat harness with one hand and released the buckle with her other. She slowly lowered herself out of the seat until she was right side up and kneeling on the roof of the cockpit. Then she crawled out through the shattered remains of the canopy onto solid ground.

Her ship was a wreck. The plunge through the trees had left it impaled on branches and tangled in vines. Both rotor assemblies were missing with just the sheared-off drive-trains dangling from the mounts. The main hull was punctured and crumpled in dozens of spots. She crawled over branches and debris to get to the door of the rear compartment. "Schmidt! Answer me!"

She reached the opening and immediately discovered a body. But it was Vince Domanico, not Danny Schmidt. And as Danny had said, Vince was very dead. A huge arrow shaft protruded from the middle of his chest and there was a look of surprise on his face. Carol swallowed down the saliva that was suddenly pouring into her mouth and then grabbed Vince's arm and dragged him out.

The effort left her dripping with sweat and when she went to wipe it from the sides of her face not covered by her breath mask she was startled to see her hand covered in blood. Some tentative probing with her fingers revealed she had been cut by the canopy shards in several places and her scalp was bleeding freely.

But there was no time to worry about that. She crawled back to the door and looked in. There! She could see Danny at the far side of the compartment, all tangled with branches and vines. One hand was flung out in her direction. She reached in and grabbed it and was relieved when it gripped her back. "Danny!" she yelled. "Are you all right?"

She was rewarded with a groan and a mumbled reply: "Alive. But that's about all. Damn, this hurts."

"Hold on! I'm going to get you out!" But how? She was going to need some tools and a lot of muscle. Could she get help? She touched her communicator. "May-day! May-day! This is Sampson Two-four! I've gone down on one of the floating rocks and need immediate assistance! Need immediate medical assistance, over!"

What came back over her headset was just a jumble of noise. She could make out voices shouting and screaming, but none of it was intelligible. It must have been interference from the damn flux. She tried again. "This is Sampson Two-four, requesting assistance, please respond!"

This time while she was waiting for an answer there was a distant but very strong explosion. The rock under her actually quivered slightly. Ah, the bomb! They must have just delivered the strike on the enemy stronghold. No wonder no one was paying attention to her! Well, now that that was done they'd be able to start the mop-up and hopefully some rescue operations.

"May-day! This is Sampson Two-four in need of assistance! Over!"

There was still no answer.

[Scene Break]

Hytani slowly came back to her senses and moaned in pain. Her whole body hurt. And as she remembered what had happened, the pain in her heart became the worst of all. _Fala is dead._ She'd only been bonded to the ikran for a few weeks, but it still felt like a part of her had been torn away. The love that her people had for the great fliers went right to their souls. Tears leaked out of her eyes and she found herself crying.

_Pallar is dead, too. Maybe my father as well._ Guilt added itself to the sorrow, as much as she missed Fala, she should be more concerned about the people dear to her.

Actually, her first priority was to be concerned for herself. Where was she? How badly hurt? She forced herself to stop crying and looked around. She was lying on her back at the base of a tree. Her legs were tangled in vines but looked to be unbroken. Her arms…

"_Ahh!"_

A bolt of searing pain blasted up her left arm when she tried to move it. Broken? Like her mother? Her right arm seemed to be okay. Bruised, but she could move it. Slowly she used it to feel along her left arm, searching for the damage. The forearm seemed straight and all right and she could wiggle her left fingers with no problem. The elbow and upper arm didn't appear damaged… so why…?

Her shoulder.

Her left shoulder was almost pressing against the side of her head. Dislocated? Yes, almost certainly. She'd seen a dislocated shoulder once, pulled completely out of its socket by a fall. The sight had nearly turned her stomach. She gingerly felt around the joint with her right hand. Yes. Better than a broken bone, she supposed, but still not good.

Slowly, slowly she got her legs free from the vines and then pushed herself to a sitting position. She was gasping with the pain before she was done. Any movement to her left arm or shoulder was agony. Was there any way she could push it back into the socket? She tried applying pressure with her right hand, but it was impossible.

She sat there for a while trying to decide what to do. She must have landed on the Thundering Rock that she'd been over when the collision occurred, there was no way she would have survived a fall all the way to the forest floor while unconscious. But could she get down? Some of the rocks were tethered to the ground with hanging vines. And some rocks were linked to other rocks in long chains. Maybe she could work her way back towards the Tree of Souls where someone might see her. Well, the first thing to do was to get to some place where she could see out and get some idea of where she was.

She staggered to her feet, desperately trying to hold her arm still. She stumbled a few spans in one direction and then stiffened when she saw strange objects lying on the ground or hanging from the trees. They were all over the place and many of them were the same green color as… _the enemy war machines!_ The further she went the more of the objects she saw. Some of them were very large. Then she spotted a long thin piece, one of the blades from the spinning things. It was bent and twisted and… and there was blood on it.

"You didn't die for nothing, Fala!" she whispered. They had done it! They had brought down the enemy machine!

But where was the rest of it? Had any of the Sky People aboard it survived the crash? She fumbled around for her knife. She advanced much more cautiously now. Then she heard a voice from ahead and to her right. It wasn't a Na'vi voice! She hesitated. If someone was talking it must be to someone else. That means there were at least two of the enemy up ahead. They would have weapons; she was hurt and had only her knife. It would be sensible for her to go the other way.

And yet she continued on, toward the voice, drawn by something she couldn't describe. Step by step she made her way, as silently as possible. Her left arm still throbbed with pain, but now she was ignoring it, every sense focused on what lay ahead. The ground started to slope down and she sensed that she was nearing the edge of this Thundering Rock. The voice was louder now and she could tell that it was just one person talking. She couldn't understand the words but the tone seemed urgent. She edged around the bole of a tree and froze.

There, only two spans away was the shattered remains of the enemy machine. A tiny figure was kneeling next to it with her back turned to Hytani and just to the side was another figure lying on the ground…

…with her arrow in it.

She stood and stared at the being she had slain. It had been a person once. A person with family and friends, with hopes and dreams. And now it was dead because she had killed it. What would happen to its spirit? If she were killed her spirit would go to Eywa just as everyone's did. But what about the Sky People? Would Eywa take them in, too? It didn't seem likely to Hytani, but she supposed it was possible. Did the Sky People have their own Eywa on their distant world? Would this person's spirit be able to find its way back to it? A numbing sense of loneliness and pity filled her at the thought of dying so far away from home.

The other figure was still talking, was it saying prayers over its fallen comrade? But no, it wasn't even looking at it. Who was it talking to? But then Hytani remembered that the Sky People had small machines that allowed them to talk to each other over long distances. Toruk Macto had been using one yesterday. Perhaps this Sky Person was talking to its friends, sending for help. Maybe more would be coming here soon… Hytani gripped her knife.

[Scene Break]

Carol Totah was still trying to reach someone when Danny called out for her: "Skipper?"

"I'm here," she said.

"Can… can you help me? I'm really feeling like shit." He let out a long groan. Damn, no one was answering and it might be hours before anyone could get here anyway. She'd have to do something herself.

"Okay, hold on, I'm going to try and get you out." She edged into the helicopter's compartment and started dragging out branches and other junk that was keeping her from getting to Danny. She found the trauma kit amongst the debris and tossed it outside, sure she'd need it soon. She made some good progress at first, but then it got harder. There were several big branches that had ripped right through the fuselage and she couldn't see any way to dislodge them. She'd have to work around them somehow. She pulled out her survival knife and started cutting through some of the vines and smaller branches. She pulled away one big batch of branches and froze. "Oh God…" she whispered.

Danny Schmidt was a mess. His tunic was in shreds and she could see that the flesh beneath the fabric was similarly tattered. There was a lot of blood. But the worst was a thick branch lying right across his pelvis and there wasn't nearly as much space between the branch and the roof of the compartment as there ought to have been. But he was still alive. His pain-glazed eyes stared at her through the mask of his exo-pack.

She had to get that log off him. It seemed to be held in place by a batch of thick vines. If she could cut through them, maybe she could lift the log somehow. Her knife was getting dull, but she sawed at the vines with frantic energy. "Hang on, Danny. Hang on just a bit longer."

She cut through one and then a second. She was getting a blister on her hand but she didn't slow down. The third one, the biggest one, seemed to be holding everything in place. If she could just cut that…

She was almost through when a loud creak and an ominous shudder in the helicopter beneath her brought the horrifying realization that the vine was holding a lot more than just the log! Before she could do anything, it snapped with a crack like a rifle shot. One end slammed into her chest and sent her sprawling. Then the whole fuselage tipped up and began sliding.

She flung out both arms, one toward Danny and the other trying to grab something, anything to stop their fall. Her fingers touched Danny's hand for one brief instant, while her other hand found a vine. She lurched to a halt, but the helicopter—and Danny Schmidt—kept right on going.

"Danny!"

But he and Sampson Two-four slid over the edge and tumbled away into the mists below.

Leaving Carol Totah dangling over that same abyss, hanging by one hand.

She flailed her legs trying to find support, but there was nothing. The side of the rock was undercut at this point and there was no purchase at all. She managed to get her other hand on the vine, but her aching and quivering arms weren't able to haul her up despite the low gravity.

"Ahhh!" she cried, gritting her teeth with fear and pain. The vine was rough and bit into her palms. Blood trickled down her wrists. There wasn't a damn thing she could do. She looked up.

A blue face was looking down at her.

[Scene Break]

Hytani had been steeling herself to dash forward with her knife when the enemy war machine had suddenly fallen. There had been no warning at all, it had just tilted over and slid away with the Sky Person she had seen still inside.

She stood and stared, both horrified and relieved that she wasn't going to have to try and kill anyone else. She was wondering what she ought to do with the body of the other Sky Person when she heard the cry. Someone still alive? Curiosity dragged her forward to the edge of the rock. She peered over…

The Sky Person was dangling from a vine not a span below her. It was female if she wasn't mistaken and she appeared to be in a lot of trouble. A Na'vi could have scrambled up from there without trouble, but the Sky Person just hung there kicking her legs and looking frightened. _Well, she has reason to look frightened, I suppose._

What to do? Cut the vine? Help her? She reminded herself that this was the one who had killed Pallar, who was responsible for Fala's death. Her kind destroyed the Omaticaya's hometree and slaughtered dozens of innocents. It would be just to let her die…

… so far from home.

"Please… please…" Hytani was startled when the Sky Person spoke in accented but understandable Na'vi.

She stared for a moment longer and then reached down with her good arm and grabbed the Sky Person's wrist.

End of Chapter 2

To be continued…


	3. Chapter 3

Face of the Enemy

By Scott Washburn

Chapter 3

"Rutxe… rutxe…" gasped Carol. Her grip was weakening. She desperately tried to think of the Na'vi word for 'help' but all she could come up with was 'please'. The Na'vi was standing over her and she could see the red ribbons in her hair. This was the one who had killed Vince and then wrecked her ship and killed Danny, too. But she was Carol's only hope. It was a hell of a long way down.

After what seemed an eternity, the Na'vi bent over, grabbed Carol's arm, and hoisted her up as easily as if she were a doll. She stepped back from the edge and let go and Carol collapsed on the ground, her trembling legs unable to hold her up. She gasped for breath and then scrambled back a few meters. "Irayo, irayo," she said. Thank you. But at the same time she pulled her pistol out of its holster. She didn't quite point it at the Na'vi, but kept it ready. The native was just so damn _big_, she seemed a threat just standing there.

But as she stared, she started to see that the Na'vi woman wasn't as much of a threat as she first seemed. She was nearly as beaten to hell as Carol's ship had been. There were cuts and scrapes and shockingly red blood all over her and her left arm… what was the matter with that? It was sort of hunched up with a bizarre lump just above the shoulder. Some sort of birth defect? But no she winced and clutched her left arm with her right and Carol suddenly understood. _Her shoulder's dislocated. Cripes, that's really ugly. Must hurt like hell._

Even so, the Na'vi was twice her size and had a knife. Not as dangerous as at first glance, but still dangerous enough.

Carol backed herself up against the trunk of a small tree and tried to pull herself together. Multiple brushes with death in the space of a few minutes were a new thing to her and she was shaking. Losing her ship and her crew was a new thing, too. She was responsible. There was nothing she could have done to save Vince, that was from enemy fire in the middle of a battle she was under orders to be in the middle of. But Danny… she could still see him and the ship tumbling into oblivion. _What else could I have done? He needed help right away!_

Help. She could do with some help, too. Surely, the mop-up must be nearly done by now. She touched her communicator. "This is Sampson Two-four requesting assistance… Captain Mitchell, this is Carol Totah, I need help… Papa Dragon, please respond…. Hell's Gate Tower, answer dammit!" Still no reply. Was it interference from the flux? Maybe something wrong with her communicator? Or… or…?

She forced herself to her feet and walked back toward the edge of the cliff, giving the Na'vi woman, who had not moved, as wide a berth as she could. Vince was still lying where she'd left him. She took his communicator and scooped up the trauma kit and went back to her tree. She tried the other communicator, but it was the same as before: still no reply. Actually, she realized, it wasn't quite the same as before. The first time she'd called for help, there was a lot of loud chatter on the general circuit, now there was nothing, just the annoying background hiss from the flux. What the hell did that mean? They'd dropped the bomb, but surely not everyone had gone back to base already! They had to pick up the ground troops and hers wasn't the only chopper to go down. They'd be flying Search and Rescue for hours, why wasn't anyone searching for her? Just to be sure her transmitter was working she spoke into one set and listened on the other and she could hear her own voice. The set was sending. Why wasn't anyone answering?

Growing pain from her scalp wounds and what she suspected would turn out to be an amazing collection of bruises, forced her to turn her attention back to herself. She pulled the trauma kit onto her lap and opened it up. Most of the kit was for far more serious injuries than hers, but there were pain pills, which she took one of, antiseptic ointment and bandages. She squeezed some of the ointment onto her finger and then suddenly looked up, startled.

The Na'vi woman was gone.

[Scene Break]

Hytani watched the Sky Person until she started to tend to her wounds. This reminded her of her own situation. There wasn't anything she could do about the shoulder, but her smaller cuts could be tended and she needed food and water. She had supplies in her bags…

…but that would mean finding Fala's body.

She dreaded seeing the remains of her ikran, he must have been horribly mangled by the spinning blades. But there was nothing for it. She waited until the Sky Person's eyes were looking elsewhere and then she silently slipped among the trees. She found her way back to where she'd first found herself and then began to spiral out in a search pattern. It didn't take long to find him. Splatters of blood on the ground caused her to stop and then look up. Fala's remains were caught in the branches about six spans above her head. On the one hand she was glad she had not suddenly come upon him on the ground, but on the other, there was no way for her to get to her gear. After one painful failure she accepted that she couldn't climb with only one arm. So, no gear, no food, no water. Thinking back to her hasty flight around it, she now remembered that this Thundering Rock wasn't all that big and had not been tethered to any of the other rocks or to the ground. She was stuck here until someone found her.

She sat down and leaned against a tree, cradling her left arm. The pain had subsided a bit but a throbbing ache filled her whole left side and any sudden move was still agonizing. And she was exhausted. She shut her eyes and dozed for a while.

The smell of smoke woke her up. For a moment she was disoriented, couldn't remember where she was but then it all came back to her. Smoke? The Sky Person must have lit a fire. With a groan she got up and went back to where she'd last seen the alien. When she got close to the edge of the rock she was surprised to see how far the sun had moved. She had slept through the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon. She chided herself for such carelessness. On the ground she would have put herself in considerable danger, but this rock was too small to support much of an animal population—assuming they could find some way to get here—and thus even less likely to have any predators.

She reached the cleared area and spotted the fire and the Sky Person tending it. She must have collected some deadfall to build the fire and now she was slowly feeding in green leaves which were making a lot of smoke. A signal, perhaps? Was her machine for talking to people far away not working? For some reason that thought comforted her. She wished she knew how the battle had gone. Victory? Defeat? Who would be coming to the rescue and who would they be here to rescue? Her own people or the enemy? If the enemy came she had to be ready to flee into the trees. If it were her friends, how would the Sky Person react? She suspected that the metal object the woman had brandished earlier was some sort of weapon, although it had no sharp point or cutting edge. Would she fight or surrender?

As she stood watching, she realized that she was very thirsty. A rock this small would have no flowing water the way some of the larger ones did except when it was raining hard. But there would be water if she could find it. She slipped away again and began looking.

[Scene Break]

Carol tossed another bunch of leaves onto the fire and watched the white smoke drift upward. Where the hell _was_ everybody? Almost six hours had passed since she crashed here. The fighting must be long over and surely someone would notice that she was missing by now! Granted that with Bertie Halloran gone there would have been no one specifically looking for her, but there was no way Captain Mitchell was just going to write off Sampson Two-four without finding out what had happened. The battalion looked out for its own. Her worry was that if they homed in on the wreck of her ship down below they might never think to look for her up here. She needed to maintain a constant watch and check for any radio traffic if they did come looking. _When_ they came looking.

But the silence on her communicator and the empty skies were becoming unnerving. Well, the skies weren't _completely_ empty and that wasn't making her feel any better. She'd seen quite a few banshees flying around. None of them appeared to have any Na'vi riding them, though and she knew the Halleluiah Mountains were a natural nesting area for the banshees, so perhaps the ones she'd seen had just been stirred up by the sounds of the battle. She sure hoped so.

A small noise caused her to look around and she gasped when she saw the Na'vi woman not two meters behind her! Carol cried out and scrambled back, fumbling for her pistol. But the native just squatted down and stared at her.

"Cripes! Don't sneak up on me like that!" she snarled. How could someone that large move so silently? Trembling, she lowered the gun, but did not put it away. What was she supposed to do about her? The Na'vi had saved her life and could easily have killed her unawares just now. She owed her… what? Apparently her immediate motives were not hostile, but how far could she trust her? When it got dark Carol was going to have to sleep… The sensible thing would be to shoot the woman. After all, she was the enemy and the rules of engagement allowed it. Yes, that would be the sensible thing to do. And it would be easy, too. Just aim right between those big gold eyes and squeeze the trigger. Problem solved.

But somehow she couldn't.

Killing in combat was one thing, but this would be… this would be murder. She could almost hear some of her comrades—or Colonel Quaritch!—telling her that it was only murder if you killed a human being. The Na'vi weren't human beings and therefore killing them wasn't murder.

But looking into those eyes that were looking back into hers, she knew they were wrong. Human or not, this was a _person_. A person who had saved Carol's life. She put her pistol away.

The Na'vi held out what looked like a bowl and said a few words, one of which she recognized as 'water'. And indeed, the bowl did seem to have water in it. The sight of it made her realize that she was terribly thirsty. Neither she nor Vince had worn a canteen on their belts, so all the water she'd had was in the smashed remains of her ship a thousand meters below.

Carol slowly reached out and took the bowl which she realized on closer inspection was actually some sort of fruit or gourd that had been cut in half. The water inside looked clear and inviting and she got out the straw drinking attachment for the mask of her exo-pack. Fortunately for everyone Pandoran and Earthly life was just enough different that their respective micro-organisms didn't like the taste of the other planet's creatures so the water was probably safe to drink. But safe or not, she was going to drink it. She got the straw in place, dipped the other end inside the gourd and sucked. The water was warm and had an odd, almost fruity taste, but was very satisfying. She drank her fill and then handed the gourd back, thanking the woman, who drank the rest herself.

"So now what do we do?" asked Carol. "I left my deck of cards back at the base. Read any good blogs lately?" The native didn't answer, but slowly extended her good hand and gently touched one finger to the faceplate of Carol's mask. She said a few words and Carol recognized a question and the word 'why'. "Why do I have this?" How to answer? Carol had been trying to remember as much of her Na'vi from those drill sessions with Trudy as she could, but she was pretty sure her vocabulary didn't extend to _carbon dioxide _and_ hydrogen sulfide _and_ asphyxiation_. She had to settle for just saying: _'I need it'_. The Na'vi cocked her head and seemed to accept that.

One of the basic phrases in the language drills seemed particularly useful: '_My name is Carol, what's yours?' _She said it and pointed to herself and then to the Na'vi.

"Hytaniofthelutapawni" was the reply. Carol made her repeat it several times before she caught on that her name was Hytani and the rest of it was her clan name. They spent the remainder of the afternoon exchanging similar bits of useless information. A surprising amount of the Na'vi she had learned was coming back to her, although she knew her grammar was atrocious. By nightfall her stomach was growling and she dug a ration bar out of her belt pack and munched it down. Hytani watched her and Carol offered her the last bite. The native sniffed the tiny piece in her hand and then tentatively put it in her mouth, chewed and swallowed. Her face didn't reveal what she thought of it, but she did say thank you.

The coming of night was… amazing. Carol had never been outside Hell's Gate after dark. The humans huddled inside their little flood-lit fortress and did not venture out. Trudy had been a rare exception and she'd tried to describe the bio-luminescence of the native life to her. Her descriptions fell far short of the reality. Every plant, every insect glowed! Even Hytani had glowing freckles scattered all over her skin. The landscape down below looked like some human city and the floating rocks like skyscrapers. Except no human city had ever been so beautiful. Carol sat near the edge of their rock and stared out for an hour or more, enthralled. She let the fire burn down since its glow would have been lost among all the other lights and she doubted anyone would be out there to see it. But it had been a very long day and finally she decided she had to get some sleep. The Na'vi woman was already trying to sleep.

But if it was a long day, it was an even longer night. She'd never tried to sleep wearing a mask before and she was terrified of dislodging it. Every time she shifted position she'd wake up and check it. The night seemed to be filled with a multitude of strange sounds that kept her awake. And the worst of all was the Na'vi woman. She moaned and groaned and would cry out in pain from time to time. Her shoulder…

The night seemed to last about a thousand years, but finally the sky brightened and the glowing plants faded and morning came. But the sky didn't get very bright and a rumble of thunder heralded the approach of rain. Before long it was pouring down in sheets and Carol was quickly soaked to the skin. The wind came up, too and the trees were whipping around. Amazingly, she could actually feel the rock shuddering underneath her.

The rain didn't seem to bother Hytani although she looked weary and was favoring her arm more and more. She disappeared for a while but soon returned with two of the gourds filled with water. Carol thanked her and gave her part of her ration bar. She realized that she was being foolish with such generosity, the native could probably find food on her own but she only had two more of the bars left. She hadn't been able to bring herself to search through Vince's things yet. She felt bad about leaving him there in the rain, but there was nowhere to put him, not even anything to cover him with.

But the storm passed quickly and the sun came out and the humidity was soon comparable to that of a steam bath. She sat there and sweated and stared at Hytani between the times she was trying to raise someone on her communicator. Still no answer! Were those idiots afraid to get their ships wet or something?

By midday things had dried out enough that she could build another fire. Hytani tried to help gather wood, but she was obviously in a lot of pain. Suddenly Carol said: "Let's try and fix that damn arm of yours! If we're stuck here another night I don't want you keeping me awake!" The Na'vi looked at her quizzically and Carol struggled to make her understand what she wanted to do. Her vocabulary wasn't really up to it, but with a lot of sign language she finally got the idea through. Hytani looked skeptical—and a bit frightened—but eventually was willing to try.

There was a small video pad in the trauma kit with recordings of how to treat almost any human injury in the field. Unfortunately, human shoulders weren't constructed quite the same way as a Na'vi shoulder and she was afraid the recommended treatment wasn't going to work. For a human you were supposed to try and rotate the arm from side to side and this would pop it back into the socket. Gently probing Hytani's joint, it seemed to Carol that it was going to take pulling rather than rotating. She had Hytani lie down on the ground and brace her feet against a tree. Carol then grabbed her left wrist and pulled.

Hytani screamed.

"Sorry… sorry…" muttered Carol, but she pulled harder. The shoulder seemed to move slightly, back in the proper direction. The Na'vi woman was moaning and gasping in pain, but she didn't try to stop Carol. Instead she tried to help, pulling in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, she weighed three times as much and this just dragged Carol along. She dug in her heels and pulled with all her might. Eventually she ended up on her backside on the ground. But one last heave and there was an audible pop and a final scream from Hytani and it was done.

Both of them lay there, dripping with sweat and shaking. Hytani gasped out _irayu_ a half-dozen times and then closed her eyes. Carol got up and looked over her patient. The arm was back where it belonged and looked much better there. The video had said that relief from the worst of the pain should be immediate, but the arm would be very weak and sore for quite a while, especially after such a long time since the injury. Well, maybe she wouldn't make so much noise tonight.

_But I don't want to spend another night here, dammit!_

She finished gathering the wood and got the fire going again. With all the wet leaves around she managed to produce a lot of smoke. But a few hours went by and still nothing happened. She began examining her communicator. Was there any way to boost the signal of the damn thing? It had to be interference from the flux that was preventing her from getting through. After a lot of fiddling she managed to get the cover off and was surprised and elated to find exactly what she was looking for almost immediately. There was a tiny switch with three settings: 'Lo', 'Std' and 'Hi'. It was set on 'Std' and by using a tweezers she found in the trauma kit she was able to flip it to the 'Hi' setting. She imagined that this would drain the batteries faster, but she still had Vince's set so she could risk it. Fitting it back in place she tried again.

"May-day! May-day! This is Sampson Two-Four calling anyone! I am in need of assistance! Please respond!"

There was a crackle of static and then a voice answered! She nearly whooped for joy. "Sampson Two-four, this is Hell's Gate Control. Please identify yourself and report your status."

"This is Flight Officer Carol Totah! My ship has gone down and I am on one of the floating rocks. Both… both of my crewmen are dead. I need immediate evac! Over!"

"Roger, Sampson Two-Four. Standby."

"Standby?" she muttered. "What the hell else can I do except stand by?" An infuriating amount of time went by before they called again.

"Ms. Totah, this is Captain Kim, please describe your situation, over." Kim? Who the hell…? Oh, right, she commanded one of the companies of infantry. She was the assistant S2, as well, if she remembered correctly. What was she doing on the com?

"My situation? My situation stinks! I was pursuing a hostile when my ship collided with a banshee. We crashed on one of the floating rocks to the west of the primary target. Later the wreck fell off the mountain. I'm basically uninjured, but I need evacuation! Over."

"Understood," came the reply. "Do you have any supplies? How long can you hold out where you are?"

A queasy feeling was growing in Carol's stomach. Why was she asking these stupid questions? "I… I've got emergency rations for a couple of days and I can get water. I've got the trauma kit, but everything else went over the side with my ship. But can't you get a fix on this signal? I've built a fire and it's sending up smoke. There's room for a chopper to get in here and pick me up!"

"Uh, I'd suggest you put out the fire, Flight Officer," said Kim. "It may be a while before we can arrange an evac."

"Why? I'm right here! I want to talk to Captain Mitchell!" This stupid ground-pounder obviously didn't understand.

"I'm afraid that's impossible, Captain Mitchell is dead."

"What?" cried Carol. "But… but… well then I want to talk to Colonel Quaritch!" The Old Man wouldn't stand for this sort of crap when one of his people was in trouble! What the hell was going on there?

"Flight Officer Totah… Carol," said Kim, "the situation isn't what you think it is. Colonel Quaritch is dead, too. We… we lost the battle. Badly. Only eight helicopters made it back. The ground forces… the ground forces were wiped out completely."

"What? Are you crazy? How…?" Carol felt exactly like she did when she found herself dangling from that vine by one hand.

"The enemy got reinforcements. Overwhelming reinforcements. They just swarmed over everything. You're the first survivor we've heard from since the battle."

"But… but, you've got to get me out of here!" She was starting to panic.

"I'm sorry Carol, but that's not possible right now. The enemy forces are continuing to stream in and there's no way we can send a rescue mission that deep into enemy territory. Right now we're scrambling to defend Hell's Gate. I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Sorry! What the hell am I supposed to _do_?"

"Keep out of sight and wait. We're talking with the enemy, trying to work out some sort of truce. Hopefully we can arrange to get you back. We'll check back in with you each day at noon."

"But… but…"

"I'm sorry, Flight Officer. There's nothing else we can do right now. Good Luck. Kim out."

"Wait!" she screamed. But the com clicked off.

End of Chapter 3

To Be Continued


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Hytani awakened from an exhausted sleep to hear the Sky Person shouting. She sat up, only wincing slightly. Her arm was so much better she wanted to weep with joy. The Sky Person, _Carol_, had fixed it! There was no way she could have done it alone.

But what was wrong? Carol had talked loudly into her communications machine before, but not like this. She was clearly very angry, waving one of her arms in the air as she shouted. As Hytani watched she shouted one last time and then ran over to the fire and began kicking dirt on it to put it out. Why was she doing that? Didn't she want her people to find her anymore? That would certainly be a relief, but why?

Carol finished with the fire and stalked over to a tree and sat down. Her face was a bright pink and there were tears on her cheeks beneath her bubble-mask. After a moment she put her arms on her knees and rested her head against her arms.

Hytani hesitated for a while and then got up and went over to her, deliberately making some noise so as not to alarm the nearly-deaf alien. She squatted down next to her and Carol looked up. "What is wrong?" Hytani asked.

Carol snarled an angry reply in her own language and waved an arm in dismissal and put her head down again. Well, she was certainly in a snit! Hytani couldn't think of anything else to say so she stood up and slowly flexed her left arm. Better, but not good. Still, she wondered if it was good enough to climb up to Fala and get her saddle bags? She was very hungry now. Well, only one way to find out. She walked back into the trees and headed for where she'd seen the ikran's body.

She sucked in her breath when she reached the spot and saw that the morning's storm had shaken Fala loose from the branches. His crumpled remains were in a pile at the base of the tree. She could hardly bear to look at him, but she forced herself. His head and neck were missing entirely and his left wing was just a short stump of a bone, nearly stripped of flesh. But the rest of him was almost untouched. Some of the webbing of his right wing was torn in a few spots, but that was all.

She knelt down next to him and ran her hands along his back, unmindful of the tears that streamed down her face. "Good-bye, my friend," she whispered. "Tireless voyager, stalwart companion in battle, may Eywa grant you clear skies and fair winds forever." She stayed next to him for a long time.

But finally she bestirred herself and unfastened her saddle bags. She hated to leave him like this, but alone and hurt and with no tools burying him just wasn't possible. She slung her bags over her good shoulder and started back to what she'd started to think of as camp.

As she reached the clear area near the edge of the rock some faint and familiar cries came to her ears. She looked out and her heart leaped when she saw a group of ikrans with riders on their backs! They were a long ways off and lower than her, but perhaps… She dropped her bags and ran to the edge and began waving with her good arm and shouting.

But almost immediately the Sky Person was on her feet and shouting at her. "Stop! Stop!" she cried. She had her weapon out. Hytani tried to point at the ikrans, but Carol came right up to her and shoved the weapon hard against her leg, trying to push her back toward the trees. Hytani wasn't sure what the weapon could do. It seemed so tiny it was hard to believe that it was really dangerous. But then she remembered what Toruk Macto's weapon had done to the gourds and the firebolts and explosions that had come from the enemy war machines and she thought again. She glanced at the ikrans and they were getting very far away. They wouldn't hear her anyway. She backed off and fell silent. Carol gestured that they should move farther from the edge and she reluctantly obeyed, finding a place under the trees. The alien sat down a span away and frowned at her. She kept her weapon in her hand.

"Why did you do that?" she asked after a while. She spoke slowly since the Sky Person had so much trouble understanding.

"Your people. Me they kill," she replied.

Hytani realized that she might well be right. She had little doubt that the Sky People would kill her if they arrived first. What a situation! Perhaps she should slip away again and go to the other side of the rock and try to spot some of her people from there. If they did see her, she could just not say anything about Carol. She felt that she owed her that much for her shoulder. But it was getting late and would be dark again soon. She could try tomorrow.

For right now, she was still hungry. Slowly she got up and went over to where she'd dropped her bags. Carol watched her every move, but did not try to stop her. She squatted down near the alien and began rummaging. Unfortunately, there wasn't much, she had not wanted to weigh Fala down in the battle and she never imagined being in a fix like this. Still, there were a few strips of dried meat, some fruit, some nuts and berries and her drinking bottle. She laid this out on a large flat leaf and set it between herself and Carol. The Sky Person had shared some of her food and it only seemed fair to do the same.

Carol looked over the food and then went and got the box where she kept her bandages and got out a small machine which she studied. After a few moments she took a few of the kinta berries and a handful of the nuts. One by one she slipped them under her mask and into her mouth. She grimaced a bit while chewing the nuts, perhaps she didn't like the flavor. But she did say thank you when she was done. Hytani ate a frugal meal and then settled back to watch the sunset.

She had little trouble sleeping that night, although her shoulder woke her several times when she shifted position.

When she woke in the morning there was a strange smell in the air. It confused her at first because it was unlike anything she had ever encountered before. But she quickly discovered what it was and realized that they had to do something about the body of the fallen Sky Person. She had no idea what the funeral customs of the aliens were, but surely they didn't just leave their people in the open to rot! There seemed little choice but to bury him—unless Carol simply wanted to toss him off the cliff. She squatted down next to her, pointed at the body and awkwardly said: "We must tend to your friend. Do you bury your dead?"

At first she didn't understand. Then it almost seemed like she didn't want to understand. But Hytani persisted and used simpler words and gestures that seemed perfectly plain to her. Carol became more agitated, even angry and eventually Hytani gave up. Well, if she wouldn't deal with this, they were going to have to move their campsite upwind!

But after a while Carol got up and went over to the body and then started to dig. Hytani immediately went over and stopped her. She could see that the soil was much too thin this close to the edge of the rock. She led her a few spans away and started digging there. It took nearly the entire day to make the hole big enough, even for so small a body. They made improvised digging tools with the scattered pieces of Carol's flying machine and that helped, but the soil was rocky and Hytani's left arm was still nearly useless and it went very slowly. She asked some questions about the man she had killed and learned that his name was _Vince_, but Carol seemed reluctant or unable to say any more about him. At one point, when Carol went into the woods to relieve herself, Hytani hastily removed her arrow from Vince's body. It had gone clear through him and then later the pointed end had broken off, so one quick yank was all that was needed. She tossed the shaft away. "I'm sorry I had to kill you, friend," she whispered. Carol said nothing about it when she returned.

Several times during the day she heard the calls of ikrans in the distance, but she made no effort to go see if they were being ridden by her people. Carol didn't even seem to hear. Yes, these aliens were nearly deaf.

It was starting to get dark by the time the grave was finished. They carefully carried Vince to the hole and gently lowered him in. Hytani went into the forest and returned with a handful of flowers which she scattered on the body. Carol just sat next to the grave, seemingly too exhausted or too numb to move. Hytani wasn't sure what to do next. Were there prayers that needed to be said? Some all-night vigil to be stood? Well, there was something she _could _do…

As the shadows lengthened, she began to sing.

_Fierce and fond heart's hunt completed,  
Fleet limbs striding fell to stillness;  
laid to rest in leaves last-fallen,  
spirit soaring seed-borne from us.  
Last of heart-beats bearing onward,  
back to Hometree, brought to Eywa.*_

[Scene Break]

Carol looked up in astonishment as the beautiful, mournful sound flowed over her. Hytani was standing there with her arms slightly spread and her eyes closed. She could not understand most of the words, but she had no doubt what the song was for. It shamed her into remembering her duty to a fallen comrade. She got to her feet, tried to brush some of the caked mud off her uniform, and then stood at attention until the song was finished.

When the last notes died away she said: "Here lies Corporal Vincent Domanico, RDA Security Forces on Pandora, killed in the line of duty…" her voice cracked and her damn faceplate was starting to fog up, but she pressed on. "A good friend, a good comrade, may he rest in peace." Her hand snapped up to her forehead in salute. "Good-bye, Vince, God keep you." She let her hand fall to her side and let out a long sigh. She turned to Hytani. "Irayu, Irayu."

It didn't take nearly so long to fill the grave as it took to dig it and that was a good thing: Carol was almost at the end of her strength. She had resisted the idea of burying Vince at first, because it was an admission that there would be no evac any time soon. But now that it was done she was glad. It was a far better funeral than all the other dead were getting if the disaster was even half as bad as Captain Kim's description. She hoped that Danny's body was so thoroughly entombed in the wreckage of Sampson Two-four that nothing would bother it.

By the time they were finished, the plants all around were in full glow and it was prettier than any church or cathedral Carol had ever seen. They tamped down the last of the dirt and she stood back. It wasn't a bad place to rest for eternity, she decided, even though it was alien soil, twenty-six trillion miles from home. She hoped Vince would approve. Maybe she could make some sort of headstone…

The two of them sat down side by side, filthy, exhausted and hungry. They finished off the last of the food, both her ration bars and Hytani's stuff. She wasn't sure what they'd do tomorrow. After a while a strange feeling gripped her and she pointed toward the grave.

"Will you do that for me when the time comes?"

Hytani tilted her head the way she did when she didn't understand something. It took a few attempts to explain what she meant, but when it finally got through, the Na'vi woman became very solemn and bowed her head and touched her forehead with one hand. She said something but the only word that Carol caught was _tsmuke, _'sister'.

Moved, Carol reached out and touched Hytani's arm. "Thank you, sister."

It rained for the next two days.

At first it was welcome as it allowed them to wash off the mud from digging Vince's grave. At one point a veritable river was flowing over the edge of the rock not far away and Carol stripped off most of her clothes and rinsed them out. Hytani looked on with much interest. But later it was just miserable. The rain didn't seem to bother Hytani much and fortunately, it was as warm as bath water, but after two days of it Carol was wrinkled like a prune and heartily sick of it.

Hytani managed to find some fruit and berries that the medical 'pad claimed were safe to eat, so they didn't go completely hungry, although they did give Carol a mild case of the runs. As promised, Captain Kim checked in with her each day, but with no good news to report. The negotiations had broken down and it appeared that the Na'vi were massing for an attack on Hell's Gate. Under those circumstances there was no way they could risk any of their few remaining helicopters to go fetch Carol. Their rock had been completely socked-in with clouds, so there hadn't been any sign of the Na'vi forces, either.

On the second day Carol was dismayed when her communicator shorted out in the rain, probably because she'd dared to pry it open to change the setting. She still had Vince's, but she was afraid to open it up to reset the power level. She wasn't sure if she'd have any communications in the future. Overall, things were not looking good. Her exo-pack was rated for another week or so and she had Vince's as a back-up, but she suspected that breathing air was going to be the least of her worries before this was through.

That night the rain ended. Before they settled down to sleep, Hytani suddenly asked: "Why did you come here?" Carol's Na'vi had been improving day by day as there was little else to do but talk, but she had no idea how to answer this question! Even if she had the words how could she describe Earth or the RDA or unobtainium or what it was worth? How to explain that after spending twelve years in cryo and six years here she'd go home with enough money that she could retire and live comfortably for the rest of her life? There was no way…

"Why… why you ask?"

Hytani had learned to use simple words and clipped sentences with Carol, but she still had to repeat herself several times. "You… the Sky People, I mean. You come here. Destroy homes. Kill my people. Bad! Very bad! But you are not bad. You help me. You seem good. I do not understand."

Carol sighed and shook her head. What to say? It didn't even make sense to her anymore, how could she explain it—or excuse it—to this woman? "I am warrior. Must obey leader." There we go, the old _I was just following orders_ answer!

"Leaders bad?" persisted Hytani.

"Maybe. Don't know now. But must obey." She wanted to tell her to shut up. Leave it alone. But she couldn't. This was her world and she had the right to ask.

"Other warriors think like you?"

"Maybe. Some."

"Much sorrow for you, Carol."

"Much sorrow for all."

"Yes."

"Yes."

In the morning the sun came out and the whole world seemed wrapped in steam and mist. That day Carol accompanied Hytani on her foraging expedition. It was her first time to really see the rock they were stuck on and she was surprised at how small it was. Go a few hundred paces in any direction and you came to the end of it. A desert island in the sky. She also noticed that there were a half-dozen spots where Hytani could look out and try to signal her own people for rescue. Why hadn't she done so? Why was she staying here? Had her promise to take care of her body the night of Vince's funeral been more binding than she suspected?

They did find some food although some freshly sprouted mushroom-things that Hytani said were delicious were identified by the medical 'pad as so lethal to humans she would have died in thirty seconds if she'd dared to take a bite. She settled for a few berries and an incredibly bitter purple fruit.

As she feared, the noon-time communications check using Vince's unit produced only static and a few garbled words. She hoped that Hell's Gate was at least getting the same from her, enough to let them know she was still alive. She told herself that if there was any change in the situation for the better, they would just come get her. If the situation remained bad, well, what difference did it make? Even so, she was thinking more and more about surrendering. If Hytani could just keep her people from killing her at first sight, perhaps something could be arranged. She'd have to talk to her about it… tomorrow.

That night they taught each other how to sing some songs.

The next morning was crystal clear and with a brisk wind blowing. Carol woke to see Hytani standing right near the edge of the rock, shading her eyes with one hand. She got up and quickly went over to her. "What is it?" she demanded. The Na'vi woman just pointed.

In the far, far distance, east toward where the Na'vi's Tree of Souls lay, a dark cloud seemed to be rising up from the forest. It was like yesterday's steam boiling up except this was black and not white. Squinting against the rising sun Carol could see that the cloud was made of tiny black specks. Hundreds, no, thousands of them. With a shock she realized that they were banshees. This was the Na'vi army, the huge host that Captain Kim had talked about. She couldn't begin to estimate their numbers and part of the view was blocked by floating rocks, but there certainly looked to be a hell of a lot of them. Were they launching their attack on Hell's Gate?

"Your people," she said. "Many, many."

"Yes," replied Hytani. "The war goes on."

[Scene Break]

Hytani watched the incredible swarm until it was lost in the distance. So many! Many times the number who fought in the first battle! She felt a mixture of pride and worry. But to her surprise she felt no desire to be part of it. She glanced toward Vince's grave. _As the All Mother is my witness, may I never slay another person again!_

There was very little conversation as they searched for their breakfast nor as they ate it. Carol appeared very worried. Hytani had suspected for days that her own people had won the first battle and this seemed to confirm it. She knew nothing of the strength of the Sky People fortress, but she could not imagine how it could resist an attack from the vast host she had seen. _And those are just the ikran-riders! There could be as many more on the ground!_ The Na'vi were strong, stronger than even they knew.

And Carol's people were likely doomed.

She had only seen a small fraction of the first battle and yet the confusion and chaos had left a lasting impression. The battle that must soon come would be eight or sixteen times as large—and as much more confused. Surrendering, taking prisoners, in such a thing might not even be possible. The Sky People might be wiped out to the last.

Where did that leave Carol? She had no answer.

Just before midday they both stiffened as a faint but very powerful rumble shook the air. Like but unlike distant thunder. What had that been? Some new and terrible Sky People weapon? But Carol looked troubled, too…

Shortly afterwards Carol tried to use her communications machine, but she got no answer and she was even more upset. Hytani tried to comfort her, but she had no words. Instead she distracted her by more foraging. Sadly, they were scouring the rock of its edibles and dinner was hardly worthy of the word. They couldn't stay here much longer. She tried to broach the subject of signaling her people for help that night, but Carol didn't respond. The woman seemed to be curling in on herself, shutting Hytani out. She tried to imagine what it must be like for her: perhaps the only one of her kind, alone on a world filled with hostile giants.

The next morning they were returning to camp from an almost fruitless search for food when Hytani suddenly heard not only the squawk of ikrans, but the whistle of the wind through their wings! They were close! She looked around eagerly but was stunned when an enormous red shape appeared over the trees. _Toruk! _A dozen more ikrans followed it. She waved and shouted and immediately they banked in her direction. She looked back at Carol…

…but Carol was gone!

She caught one fleeting glimpse of the woman running into the woods but then the wind from Toruk's mighty wings was buffeting her and she leapt aside as the huge beast came in to land. Toruk Macto was astride him and a short distance away another ikran landed and Hytani recognized the rider as Neytiri, Toruk Macto's mate. The rest remained aloft and circled.

Toruk Macto slid off his mount and walked over to her, tilting his head in puzzlement. "Who are you?" he asked in accented Na'vi.

She nervously touched her forehead and stammered: "I… I see you, Toruk Macto. I am called Hytani… of the Lutapawni Clan."

He seemed very surprised and looked around the campsite until his eyes fell on Vince's grave. "What are you doing here? _What have you done?_" he seemed very angry and she cringed away.

"Let the poor girl speak, Jake," said Neytiri, coming up to them. They both looked at her.

"I… during the battle my ikran collided with one of the enemy war machines," gasped out Hytani. "It was killed and I fell here. The rider of the war machine fell here, too. One of her people is buried there…" she pointed to the grave.

"So Carol Totah is still alive?" demanded Toruk Macto eagerly.

"Oh! Yes! Yes!" cried Hytani suddenly understanding Toruk Macto's anger. He thought that was Carol's grave! That she had killed her! "She is alive! She fled into the woods just now at your approach. I think she is frightened."

Toruk Macto relaxed. "As well she might be. My apologies, Hytani. When I saw the grave, I feared the worst."

"And our sympathies for your loss," said Neytiri. "I lost my own ikran during the battle, too. But you will find another, just as I have," indicating the ikran perched on the edge of the rock.

"Thank you," said Hytani. "But… but it seems that you expected to find Carol here, but not me."

"Much had happened," said Neytiri. "The Sky People, faced with the might of the Na'vi, have agreed to leave our world. They are packing to go. But the new Sky People leader knew that one of her own was trapped here. We agreed to come find her. But she said nothing of you." Neytiri looked around the campsite where Carol's gear sat next to her own and then smiled. "It would seem that you two made peace here on your own, before anyone else."

"Yes. Carol and I have helped each other greatly. My shoulder was dislocated from my fall and she fixed it! We shared our food and… and we both dug that grave."

"We should have put the two of you in charge," said Toruk Macto. "We might have avoided a lot of grief. But where is Ms. Totah? We need to fetch her back to Hells' Gate."

"She is frightened and she has a weapon," said Hytani. "She has been very… agitated the last few days. I will go and try and bring her back."

"I speak her language," said Toruk Macto. "I should go and get her."

Inside Hytani cringed. Language or not, he was a stranger. Carol was in a panic. And if she tried to use violence against Toruk Macto! The circling escorts above would cut her down without mercy. She stepped forward and touched his arm. "Please, she knows me. She will trust me. We are friends."

He hesitated but then nodded. "Very well, go ahead. We will follow at a distance. At least she can't run very far."

"But if we are not careful she could _fall_ very far, indeed, Ma Jake," said Neytiri. "Let Hytani talk to her friend."

Hytani started off through the woods in the direction she had last seen Carol. Tracking her was not going to be easy since they had both trod the rock from end to end dozens of time. So she just started shouting: "Carol! It's Hytani! It's all right! Do not fear! Come back! You will be safe!" There was no answer. She looked over her shoulder and saw that Toruk Macto and Neytiri were following a few spans behind. This was not good. If she missed finding Carol, and they should bump into her…

A small sound to her left made Hytani spin around. Carol was standing there with her weapon pointed right at her!

[Scene Break]

Carol was shaking so hard she could barely hold her pistol steady even with both hands. She very nearly fired at the tall blue figure coming through the foliage but she recognized Hytani at the last instant. The Na'vi woman saw her and froze and then slowly held out her hands. She began speaking to her, but the words didn't seem to make any sense. From the moment the banshees appeared overhead, her only thought had been to get away. The Na'vi had killed everyone. _Everyone!_ And now they were coming to get her, too! She was going to die on this godforsaken piece of rock. Just like Vince…

Vince…

"You'll remember your promise won't you?" she shouted. "You'll put me right next to Vince like you promised? _Remember?_"

Hytani tilted her head. "Carol! It's all right! There is no danger!" _Na'vi…. She's speaking Na'vi you idiot… slow down and listen…_ She slowly lowered her gun.

And then raised it again.

Two more Na'vi were approaching! She shifted her aim to the nearest of the new figures, a male, but Hytani moved to put herself right in the line of fire! "Carol! "Don't!" screamed Hytani.

"Flight Officer Totah!" bellowed the male Na'vi—in English. "Attention!"

Instinctively, Carol snapped to attention, hands at her side. _What the hell…?_ Slowly the tall Na'vi stepped in front of her.

"The war's over, Carol," he said gently. "No more battles. Captain Kim sent me to fetch you back. It's all right. Time for you to go home."

"Home?"

"That's right, you're going home."

Her pistol fell to the ground from nerveless fingers. "I'd like to go home," she whispered. She started to collapse and suddenly Hytani had her in her arms. She lifted her up like a small child and carried her away.

[Scene Break]

To Hytani's delight, getting them all down from the Thundering Rock involved a ride on Toruk. Carol was none too happy about it, but Hytani cradled her in her arms and sat right in front of Toruk Macto and in all too short a time they were on the ground. Water and food was waiting for both of them and Carol finally seemed to relax from the frenzy that had gripped her. A Sky Person flying machine appeared a short while later. At the sight of its approach a chill went through Hytani, not out of fear, but of the realization that it was here to take Carol away. This was too soon!

"I… I need to say good-bye to her," she said to Neytiri, eyes filling with tears. "But I don't… I don't have the words."

"I understand," said Neytiri. "But do not worry, I will give you the words."

"You had better do it now, before the Sky People arrive," said Toruk Macto. "The Na'vi aren't too popular with them right now. It might make things hard for Carol if they see she's made friends with you."

Hytani nodded and then went to where Carol was sitting on a fallen log, chewing on one of the Sky People food-sticks that Toruk Macto had provided. Carol looked up at her approach. Hytani had grown adept at reading Carol's facial expressions, but she could not read the expression on her face now. Carol nodded at her and then jerked her head toward the helicopter which was circling to land. "I go now," she said.

"I know," said Hytani. She looked awkwardly to Neytiri who then began to whisper Sky People words in her ear. Hytani repeated them as best she could: "Safe… journey… home… my… friend. "May… Eywa… watch… over… you. Good… bye… my… sister. Fare… thee… well."

Carol's face twisted into a strange shape and tears dripped down her cheeks. She rose from the log and stretched out her arms. Hytani sank to her knees and gathered her in and gently embraced her.

They held each other while the noise of the Sky People machine grew to a roar and then slowly died. Carol pulled away and tried to smile. "Irayu, tsmuke, irayu," she said, and then added something else in her own tongue. Then she turned and hurried away to the flying machine. Toruk Macto escorted her and she didn't look back.

"What did she say?" asked Hytani to Neytiri. "Just now, before she left?" Neytiri smiled.

"'Until we meet again'".

[Scene Break]

The trip back to where the Lutapawni were camped was by horse, but word had gone ahead by ikran. Hytani breathed a huge sigh of relief when she saw her father come rushing to meet her. _He lives! Praise Eywa!_ Not knowing the fate of her father or her neighbors had gnawed at her during the time on the Thundering Rock. But here he was! She jumped off her horse and hugged him warmly and they both cried a little.

"Naughty girl!" he chided her. "I told you to meet me here after the battle!"

"And I did," she said. "It's not my fault that your battle was over so much sooner than mine!" They both laughed and they embraced again.

But their laughter faded when she saw a dozen people she knew lying on the ground with wounds and injuries. Her face became grim when her father told her that eight of the Lutapawni had died in the great battle.

"And our clan was lucky," said her father. "Others suffered much worse."

"Yes," she said and a chill went through her. She looked around the enormous camp where thousands of Na'vi were celebrating the victory. "Where are the Aleomacar camped now? I must bring them word of Pallar."

Her father's face darkened. "They are over that way. But Pallar's body was found three days ago. They know, daughter, and I am sorry about your friend. You should rest now."

"No. Duty comes first. Pallar saved my life and his people deserve to know the full tale of his bravery. I owe it to him and to them both. I can rest later."

Her father nodded in acquiescence. He took her arm. "Come, I will show you the way."

**Epilogue:**

Hytani stroked Pala's neck and finally got the ikran to settle down. For some reason the mountain-bred ikrans did not get along very well with their forest-born kin. But there were now a half-dozen mountain ikrans roosting in the Lutapawni hometree, so they were all going to have to get used to each other! It would probably be good for both groups in the long run. Fala's loss was still an ache in her heart, but she was fast becoming friends with Pala. The day they had met, far, far up in the Thundering Rocks, had been amazing and the memory of it was like a balm on the raw edges the war had left on her soul.

She slowly descended from the ikran roost, looking carefully at every branch of the tree. She and all the others had only returned a few days ago and it was very good to be home. She had travelled so far, seen and experienced so much, but here is where her heart belonged. She scarcely recognized the foolish, impetuous girl who had been so eager to leave.

As she neared the main platforms she heard a strong voice raised in song. There were many new songs being sung in Hometree these days. Some they had brought back with them, learned from other clans. Others had been made new; accounts of the great battle, tales of Na'vi valor. She'd once hoped that her name might be included in such a song. Now, she wasn't sure…

"Hytani! There you are! I've been looking for you!" It was her brother Kikano and she smiled. The reunion of the family had been a happy one. Far too many families had not been as lucky as hers.

"Well, here I am. Why were you looking for me?"

"You promised to tell me about the war! Father says you had a real adventure!"

Hytani sighed. Someday, someday she would be ready to tell the full tale. But not now. It was too soon, too soon. Her hurts were still too fresh. She had lost too much. Fala, Pallar… _Carol._ "Surely, there are stories enough being told all through Hometree. Mine is of no great import."

"I still want to hear it!"

She sighed again. He would give her no peace until she told him something. She squatted down and he did likewise.

"I travelled far, I went to war. I was eager to face the enemy, Kikano, and I did. In the midst of the great battle I met the enemy face to face. Close enough to touch. But then something happened that I did not expect. For the face of the enemy was just a mask."

"A mask?" said Kikano in surprise.

"Yes, for we all wear masks when we go to war. Masks of bravado, anger, hate. But behind the mask…"

"What? What was behind the enemy's mask?" demanded her brother.

"Behind the enemy's mask, I found the face of a friend."

The End

* Song by Jonathan Cresswell-Jones, with many thanks.


End file.
